Sina News Beijing 11 news, Saudi Aramco released the long-awaited IPO prospectus on Saturday, the company warned in the prospectus that global crude oil demand is expected to peak in the next 20 years.

Instead of providing its own assessment, Saudi Aramco used the forecast of IHS Markit, an industry consultant, who expects global oil demand to peak around 2035.

In this case, the growth in demand for crude oil and other petroleum liquids will then "level off". In the accompanying picture of the prospectus, Saudi Aramco shows that global demand for crude oil will be lower in 2045 than in 2040.

Although Saudi Aramco did not explicitly endorse this forecast, its inclusion in the IPO prospectus is bound to attract the attention of investors around the world. According to the prospectus, the company's directors believe that the data provided by IHS Markit are "reliable".

Saudi Aramco's prospectus also assumes a second scenario: if the shift from fossil fuels is faster than expected, global demand for crude oil could peak in the late 1920s.

This could mark a shift in Saudi Arabia's attitude towards the outlook for global crude oil demand. As recently as February, Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, dismissed concerns about the rise of crude oil alternatives, saying it was "not based on logic and facts" but "mainly a response to pressure and hype". At an industry event in the United States a year ago, he also said he would not lose sleep because he was worried about "peak demand for crude oil."