BEIJING (Commodity Online): China's crude oil demand will grow by only 5% to 9.9 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2012, as per a report by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Net crude oil imports are expected to be around 5.3 mbpd
“Demand growth in the first half will be slower due to high year-ago bases and a decelerating economy. But demand growth is likely to rise faster in the second half as inflationary pressure eases and the government's credit policy becomes less tight”, the report states.
Natural gas imports, meanwhile, is projected to surge 16.3% to over 150 billion cubic metres while imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is expected to rise by more than 30% to around 22 billion cubic metres.
China is the world's second largest consumer of crude oil and natural gas
