Application of the artificial intelligence GANNATS model in forecasting crude oil demand for Saudi Arabia and China

Abstract

This paper develops a rigorous and advanced data-driven model to describe, analyze, and forecast the global crude oil demand. The study deploys a hybrid approach of artificial intelligence techniques, namely, the genetic-algorithm, neural-network, and data-mining approach for time-series models (GANNATS). The GANNATS was developed and applied to two country cases, including one for a high oil producer (Saudi Arabia) and one for a high oil consumer (China), to develop crude oil demand forecasts.The input variables of the neural network models include gross domestic product (GDP), the country's population, oil prices, gas prices, and transport data, in addition to transformed variables and functional links. The artificial intelligence predictive models of oil demand were successfully developed, trained, validated, and tested using historical oil-market data, yielding excellent oil demand predictions. The performance of the intelligent models for Saudi Arabia and China was examined using rigorous indicators of generalizability, predictability, and accuracy.The GANNATS forecasting models show that the crude oil demand for both Saudi Arabia and China will continue to increase over the forecast period but with a mildly declining growth, particularly for Saudi Arabia. This decreasing growth in the demand for oil can be attributed to increased energy efficiency, fuel switching, conversion of power plants from crude oil to gas-based plants, and increased utilization of renewable energy, such as solar and wind for electricity generation and water desalination.In this study, the feature engineering of variables selection techniques has been applied to identify and understand significant factors that impact and drive the crude oil demand. The proposed GANNATS methodology optimizes and upgrades the conventional process of developing oil demand forecasts. It also improves and enhances the predictability and accuracy of the current oil demand forecasting models.