China oil imports rise 35%
Bloomberg News
Thursday, January 13, 2005
BEIJING China's crude oil imports last year rose 35 percent to 120 million metric tons, the Customs General Administration of China said Wednesday, as local output failed to meet the country's rising demand for fuels.
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Oil imports accounted for as much as 41 percent of consumption in 2004, said Rachel Tsang, an oil and gas analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC in Hong Kong. Consumption last year may have risen to 300 million tons from 250 million tons in 2003, the State Information Center said in November.
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"China's dependence on oil imports will grow," Tsang said. "Local output is not meeting demand."
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China's economy grew 9.5 percent in the first nine months of 2004, lifting demand for chemicals and fuels as carmakers and other manufacturers raised production. China is the world's second-biggest oil consumer after the United States.
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The country's oil imports this year may rise 18 percent to 142 million tons, Tsang estimated. Imports may meet about 43 percent of consumption this year, she said.
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China may also cut exports of crude oil this year to help meet local demand, Tsang said. The country's oil exports fell 34 percent in the first 11 months of 2004 to 4.7 million tons, according to customs data released last month.
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China's oil production in 2004 probably rose 2.3 percent to 174 million tons as demand for diesel, gasoline and other fuels rose in the country, Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, said last week.
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