China’s 1H 07 Imports of Oil Up 11.2%

11 July 2007

Xinhua. China’s imports of crude oil rose 11.2% to 81.5 million tonnes (598 million barrels, or about 3.3 million bpd) in the first half of this year, according to the latest statistics from the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The rate of growth, however, declined 4.4% from the prior year. China also imported 18 million tonnes of refined oil products, down 1% year-on-year.

Exports of crude oil dropped 39% to 1.8 million tonnes (13.2 million barrels) as the Chinese government discouraged exports of resources. Last November, China levied a 5% export duty on crude oil. Exports of oil products surged 27.6% to 7.9 million tonnes.

China is now the world’s third largest oil importer after the United States and Japan and the world’s second largest oil consumer after the United States.

China will use up to 350 million tons of oil this year, 10 million tons more than last year, said Jiang Xinmin, an expert with the Energy Institute under the State Development and Reform Commission, the country’s economic planner.

An annual consumption of 350 million tonnes (2.6 billion barrels) is equivalent to approximately 7.1 million barrels per day. The US will consume about 21 million barrels per day this year.