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Brief on Energy Sector
China is the world's most populous country and the largest energy consumer in the world. Rapidly increasing energy demand has made China very influential in world energy markets.
China is the world's most populous country and has a rapidly growing economy, which has contributed to higher overall energy demand in China. China's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an estimated 10 percent in 2010, after registering an average growth rate of 10 percent between 2000 and 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund. China is the world's second largest oil consumer behind the United States, and the largest global energy consumer, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
China was a net oil exporter until the early 1990s and became the world's second largest net importer of oil in 2009. China's oil consumption growth accounted for over a third of the world's oil consumption growth in 2010. Natural gas usage in China has also increased rapidly in recent years, and China has looked to raise natural gas imports via pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG). China is also the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, accounting for almost half of the world's coal consumption, an important factor in world energy-related CO2 emissions.
Coal supplied the vast majority (71 percent) of China's total energy consumption of 85 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2008. Oil is the second-largest source, accounting for 19 percent of the country's total energy consumption. While China has made an effort to diversify its energy supplies, hydroelectric sources (6 percent), natural gas (3 percent), nuclear power (1 percent), and other renewables (0.2 percent) account for relatively small shares of China's energy consumption mix. EIA projects coal's share of the total energy mix to fall to 62 percent by 2035 due to anticipated increased efficiencies and China's goal to reduce its carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of GDP). However, absolute coal
consumption is expected to double over this period, reflecting the large growth in total energy
consumption.
Oil
China is the world's second-largest consumer of oil behind the United States, and the second-largest net importer of oil as of 2009.
According to Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), China had 20.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 2011, up over 4 billion barrels from two years ago. China's largest and oldest oil fields are located in the northeast region of the country. China produced an estimated 4.3 million bbl/d of total oil liquids in 2010, of which 96 percent was crude oil. China's oil production is forecast to rise by about 290 thousand bbl/d to over 4.5 million bbl/d in 2012.
China consumed an estimated 9.2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil in 2010, up nearly 900 thousand bbl/d, or over 10 percent from year-earlier levels. China's net oil imports reached about 4.8 million bbl/d in 2010 and it became the second-largest net oil importer in the world behind the United States in 2009. EIA forecasts that China's oil consumption will continue to grow during 2011 and 2012, and the anticipated growth of 1.1 million bbl/d between 2010 and 2012 would represent almost 40 percent of projected world oil demand growth during the 2-year period.
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