China’s Dependence on Foreign Crude Oil Rose to 65.4%

The 2017 China Oil and Gas Industry Development Analysis and Outlook Report Blue Book shows that by both decreasing domestic production and increasing imports, China’s dependence on foreign crude oil rose to 65.4% in 2016, 4.6 percentage points higher than in 2015. China’s apparent consumption of crude oil was reported to be 5.778 billion tons for 2016, up 5.6% YoY; crude oil output was 1.997 billion tons, down 6.9% YoY, the first decline since 2012; crude oil imports amounted to 3.81 billion tons, an increase of 13.6% YoY.
National production of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel totaled 3.237 tons, up 7.8% YoY. Gasoline and kerosene output grew 3.5% and 9.2% YoY respectively, while diesel production fell 1.3% YoY.
Apparent consumption of natural gas was 224 billion m3 in 2016, an increase of 9.3% YoY. The import of natural gas grew 22% YoY. At the end of 2016, the total amount of gas storage capacity in China was more than 6 billion m3, an increase of more than 500 m3 over 2015. The total mileage of oil and gas pipelines has been 116 400 km, and the oil-only pipeline shave reached 25 500 km.
Blue book pointed out that overseas production of oil and gas by China’s petroleum companies increased rapidly to an annual average of 15 million tons during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015). At the end of 2016, Chinese petroleum enterprises – mainly Sinopec and CNOOC – had invested in more than 200 foreign oil and gas projects in more than 50 countries.