As China economy continues to flourish, its energy appetite is getting hard to satisfy. According to the report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, last year, the People’s Republic of China consumed oil twice as much as it produced. In 2013, the country used 10.7 million barrels, while the oil output was only 4.5 million barrels a day. The international experts are of the opinion that in case the Chinese oil consumption does not slow down, in 2014, the country will outpace the U.S. and gain a title of the world’s largest oil importer. The report says that China was the second biggest net importer of crude oil and petroleum products in 2009. In 2013, the average volume of imports posted 6.2 million barrels per day. In fact, China already became the largest net importer in the world in the Q4 2013. The EIA expects China’s annual indicator to hit new highs as the American black gold production and the Chinese demand do nothing but move up. Besides, the specialists have no doubt that the U.S. and China’s oil imports will come in at 5.5 million bbl/d and 6.6 million bbl/d respectively. Moreover, the IEA projects Chinese oil and liquids production by 2020 and 2040 to reach 4.6 bbl/d and 5.6 bbl/d correspondingly. As for the crude oil production, The China’s onshore oil production makes 81%, while the offshore output amounts to 19%. Furthermore, all China’s major fields are dwindling. Despite that fact, the government does not prevent the international oil producers from entering the market giving them an access to the most arduous fields.
