"There are lesser worries today of it spilling over to other economies," he said. The recovery in the larger economies coupled with the dipping mercury levels that push demand for heating gas will keep an upward pressure on prices, he added. The pressure on prices is also because there has been a steady decline in inventories. It is estimated that the floating storage of oil and oil products have been used up largely and would be exhausted by mid-2011. The moderate bounce-back has been almost even in all geographies, including OECD and non-OECD countries, and has come as a "pleasant surprise," Ruehl said. While North America is expected to end calendar year 2010 with an increased demand of 500,000 barrels per day, Asia is estimated to see a growth of 1million barrels per day, led by China that has shown a robust growth of more than 800,000 barrels. Forecasts and projections on prices as well as demand would depend largely on the steps taken by the US Fedand the stand taken by governments on stimulus packages. "The US demand has still not picked up as much as consumers are still de-leveraging household debt. It is only when consumers step out and spend that demand will show a firm pick up," he said. (Economic Times of India)