VLADIVOSTOK, September 4. /TASS/. Growing fuel reserves will strengthen China's role in the global oil market, while OPEC's influence and the number of its members will decline, Rosneft CEO and Executive Secretary of the Russian Presidential Commission on the Strategy for the Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector Igor Sechin said.

"Particular attention is being paid to fossil fuel reserves in the 15th Five-Year Plan. I believe that further growth in China's reserves will strengthen its role in the energy market amid declining OPEC influence and a reduction in the number of its members," he said at the Russia-China Energy Business Forum.

Sechin noted that China has successfully transformed from a major energy consumer and importer into an active market leader. "This has been made possible to a large extent by the accumulation of substantial oil reserves – the largest in the world. They are currently estimated at 1.4 bln barrels. Such reserves, combined with well-developed electric power infrastructure, give China powerful leverage over the global oil market," he explained.