China surges to the very top as net importer of oil, other liquids

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of China’s phenomenal economic growth. Here’s a little more.

China is now the world’s largest net importer of crude oil and other liquid fuels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says.

In September 2013, China’s net imports exceeded those even of the United States on a monthly basis, the EIA said in a note posted on its website March 24.

The agency defines net imports as total liquid fuels consumption minus domestic production.

Steady economic growth is driving China’s rise in net imports, the EIA said. But important factors in the United States also have worked to elevate China to the top spot.

U.S. total annual petroleum and other liquids production is expected to reach 13.3 million barrels per day in 2014, a 31 percent rise from 2011. The increase is primarily from tight oil plays.

In contrast, China’s production over the same time period will see only a 5 percent increase and is forecast to be only a third of U.S. production in 2014, the EIA said.

“On the demand side, China’s liquid fuels use is expected to reach more than 11 million barrels per day in 2014, while U.S. demand hovers close to 18.9 million barrels per day, well below the peak U.S. consumption level of 20.8 million barrels per day in 2005,” the agency said. “U.S. refined petroleum product exports increased by more than 173 percent between 2005 and 2013, lowering total net U.S. imports of petroleum and other liquids.”

China has been diversifying the sources of its crude oil imports in recent years in response to robust oil demand and geopolitical uncertainty, the EIA said.

Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of crude to China.

“Because production levels from Iran, Libya, and Sudan and South Sudan dropped since 2011, China replaced the lost shares of crude oil and other liquids imports from these countries with imports from Oman, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Angola, Venezuela, and Russia,” the EIA said.

The EIA is the statistical and analytical agency within the Department of Energy. By law, its data, analyses and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. government.

—Wesley Loy