China's dependence on foreign crude oil in 2012 reached 56.4 percent, a significant increase compared with that in 2011 and 2010, according to information on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission on Monday. However, some experts told International Finance News that this figure could be as high as 58 percent.
Experts also said that despite dispute on the data, we should be more concerned about China's energy security. China needs to reflect why foreign oil dependency of the United States steadily declined while China's is still rising in recent years.
Globally recognized as a major energy consumer, China, since 1993, has become a net importer of crude oil, when foreign oil dependence is about 6 percent. According to official statistics, in 2008, China's foreign crude oil dependence reached 49 percent, or the "warning level"; in 2009, it for the first time exceeded 50 percent to reach 51.3 percent ; in 2010, the figure climbed up to 53.7 percent.
The recently released report by the CNPC Petroleum Economics and Technology Research Center says China's dependence on foreign oil in 2012 reached 56.6 percent, a year-on-year rise of 1.5 percentage points. Early last year, Liu Tienan, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Board Secretary, has publicly said that in 2011, China's dependence on foreign oil reached 56.5 percent, an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to 2010.
Read the Chinese version:原油对外依存度十年提高9倍
Source: International Finance News
Reporter: Huang Ye
Feedback
RSS
