Sinopec Corp’s top executive says China’s oil consumption is predicted to peak around 2026 at about 16 million barrels per day. He also said that the consumption of natural gas will peak by around 2040.
A prediction by Rystad Energy in April 2021 cited the rapid adoption of electric vehicles as the main cause of global oil demand peaking over the next five years. This prediction was echoed by Sinopec’s oil peak projection.
Both Ma Yongsheng, Sinopec’s acting chairman, and a company representative told a seminar in Beijing on Thursday and Friday respectively that oil would shift eventually to become raw material for the manufacture chemicals rather than a fuel.
Removing inefficient and energy-intensive capacities as well as “forcefully promoting” green growth of its refining and petrochemical business is what the top Asian refiner intends to do. Yongsheng said:
“We will accelerate the transition from oil to chemicals and boost production of high-end materials…and raise lower-carbon feedstocks to cut down the carbon footprint throughout the manufacturing cycle.”
The firm’s annual target is to have its average single refinery’s crude processing capacity reach 10 million tonnes or 200,000 bpd, according to the executive. He spoke without giving a comparative figure.
By around 2040, China’s natural gas consumption is predicted to peak, with its demand estimated to be at 620 billion cubic meters, and then become China’s top fossil fuel resource by around 2050.
Natural gas is seen as a key bridge fuel that is going to expand steadily in demand for the next two decades by the Chinese.
