China fuel demand seen to grow

China’s consumption of main transportation fuels may expand by nearly 3% in each of the coming two years despite slowing economic growth, a researcher with state oil group China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) said. Fuel consumption is forecast at around 214 million tons or 4.28 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, expanding by another 3% to 4.4 million bpd in 2010, said Zhang Fuqin, vice-chief engineer at CNPC’s planning institute. The forecast appears more bullish than the anemic 0.6% growth predicted by the International Energy Agency for the world’s second-largest oil consumer at 7.9 million bpd that includes all refined oil products. Zhangnoted China’s fuel use would accelerate in the decade through 2020, with demand rising to 280 million tons in 2015, or 30% more than 2010. To meet that need, CNPC said it has a long-term plan to build 18 refining bases, each able to process more than 10 million tons per year or 200,000 bpd of crude oil. CNPC, parent of refiner PetroChina, aimed for a total crude capacity of 6 million bpd, Zhang said, without giving a timeline. (April 9, 2009)