The US wants India and China, the two biggest energy consumers among emerging economies, to join the International Energy Agency (IEA), in order to have a better view of the energy scenario.

"We think it is increasingly important to have some of the most important economies and energy consumers such as India more deeply involved in the IEA," Daniel Sullivan, assistant secretary at the US bureau of economic, energy and business affairs, said.

The IAE has invited India and China to participate in an emergency response exercise next month and "a logical step beyond that would be consideration of the membership," he said.

The inclusion of India and China in the IEA would also help these countries to better shape their energy policies and manage strategic reserves, he added.

The high crude prices are due to rapid increase in demand witnessed in the last couple of years and price contriols would have long-term consequences, he said, adding, the way to deal with it is through energy efficiency and diversification of energy sources.

Nobuo Tanaka, who heads the IEA,  said the agency will present a ``more realistic supply potential'' estimate.

The IEA will include the oil field study in the next edition of its annual World Energy Outlook, to be published in November, he said. Last year, the agency estimated supply in 2030 at 116 million barrels a day.

According to the estimate, global consumption would rise to 98.5 million barrels a day by 2015, from 84.6 million a day in 2006. By 2030 worldwide crude demand would be 116.3 million barrels a day.
 
IEA, founded in 1974 in response to an Arab oil embargo, said in its previous World Energy Outlook that Chinese and Indian crude oil imports would almost quadruple by 2030 to 19.1 million barrels a day, helping to bring in a supply ``crunch'' by 2015 itself.

IEA plans to reduce its long-term projection for crude oil supply after studying depletion rates at the world's 400 largest fields. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the IEA will lower its 2030 supply projection to 100 million barrels a day.

The report, to be published in November, may include new estimates for long term demand to 2030.