From AP, via WTOP Radio:
China’s total demand for petroleum is forecast to rise about 10 percent in 2005 to 2.5 billion barrels, state media reported Tuesday…
But with the economy growing at a rate of more than 9 percent a year, growth in oil consumption is outpacing increases in demand. And output at many domestic fields has been declining after decades of production.
China is the world’s second largest importer of crude oil after the United States. In 2004, Chinese imports soared 35 percent on an annualized basis to 854 million barrels.
