China’s Reliance on Foreign Oil Declines for First Time in 20 Years

What’s new: China’s crude oil imports and reliance on foreign oil declined for the first time in two decades, reflecting rising global petroleum prices, expanding domestic production and strengthened supervision of local refiners.

China's annual crude oil imports slid 5.4% in 2021, dropping for the first time since 2001. Meanwhile, China’s reliance on foreign oil, defined as the proportion of net crude oil imports relative to total oil consumption, declined by 1.6 percentage points to 72%, also the first decrease in 20 years, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF).