Asia Viewpoint: by Ma Dongwei

According to the National Bureau of Statistic of China, the country imported 512.98 mil mt of crude in 2021, down 5.4% from 542 mil mt in 2020. Crude importers fell for the first time in 20 years. Crude production in China in 2021 amounted to 190 mil mt, up 2.4% from the previous year and up 4.0% from 2019.

Crude imports decreased as the Chinese government was enhancing the reorganization of independent refineries. Further, the government aims to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, and is working to rationalize the energy system in the country. The curbing of carbon emissions also led to the fall in crude imports. At the same time, oil product exports are also on a downtrend.

China exported 940,000mt of gasoline in December 2021, up 16.05% from the previous month but down 35.2% from December 2020. For the period January to December 2021, gasoline exports totaled 14.54 mil mt, down 9.1% on year.

For gasoil, China exported 330,000mt in December 2021, down 45% from the previous month and down 78.1% from December 2020. For the period January to December 2021, gasoil exports totaled 17.21 mil mt, down 12.9% on year.

For jet fuel, the country痴 exports in December 2021 amounted to 590,000mt, down 37.23% from the previous month but up 36.5% from December 2020. Total jet fuel exports for the period January to December 2021 were 8.56 mil mt, down 14.2% on year.