China’s petroleum consumption is expected to peak by 2027, according to Sinopec

BEIJING: In an outlook issued Thursday (Dec. 19), China Petrochemical Corp., often known as Sinopec, predicted that China’s petroleum consumption will reach a high by 2027 at no more than 800 million metric tons, or 16 million barrels per day.

Compared to last year, when the refining behemoth predicted that China’s oil production will peak at around 800 million tons between 2026 and 2030, this prediction is more precise.

According to the prognosis issued in Beijing, the expected peak would be more than the 750 million tons used in 2024, which represented just the second yearly fall in 20 years.

It is anticipated that China would produce 215 million tons of crude oil in 2025, with 960 million to 970 million tons of oil refining capacity annually.

China’s natural gas consumption may peak sooner than Sinopec predicted last year, but it will still be greater.

China will need 570 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas by 2030, and between 2035 and 2040, it will level out at around 620 bcm. Sinopec predicted last year that by 2040 or thereabouts, China’s natural gas consumption will level off at 610 bcm.

According to Sinopec, natural gas consumption is expected to reach 458 bcm in 2025, an increase of 6.6% from the previous year.

Additionally, it anticipates that China’s energy-related carbon emissions will now peak at a higher level.

Before 2030, energy-related carbon emissions are predicted to reach a high of 10.8 billion to 11.12 billion tons. In contrast, a high of around 10.1 billion tons between 2026 and 2030 was predicted last year.