China Dec crude oil throughput up 13.6% y/y at 58.51 million tonnes

Last year, China imported a record 506 million tonnes of crude oil, 9.5% above 2018’s level, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

The increase in spending to between 85 billion and 95 billion yuan ($12.34 billion to $13.79 billion) compares with 2019 capital expenditure estimated at 80.2 billion yuan, slightly more than previous expectations.

China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) have entered into a strategic cooperation framework agreement, CEEC has told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The document was signed in Beijing on 7 January by Wu Yun, deputy general manager of CEEC, and Li Qingtang, deputy general manager of CNNC.

China's LNG growth rate has almost halved to 27pc for 2018-19 and the signs are that growth is continuing to decelerate.

Gas consumption this year is seen exceeding 300 bcm, up 9% from 2018, Jiang Xuefeng, vice chairman at CNPC’s Economics and Technology Research Institute (ETRI), said at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

China on Monday set up a new centrally-administered state-owned enterprise (SOE), the China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corporation.

China imported 45.74 million tonnes of crude, equivalent to 11.13 million barrels per day (bpd),

In November, China imported 20.78 million mt of coal, up 8.5% year on year, the GAC data showed.

Russia has begun gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline, the largest gas project in its history and a symbol of Moscow’s diplomatic pivot towards Beijing at a time of worsening relations with the west.