China's Energy Risk Rises Despite Oil Output Growth

China claims that it made gains in energy security last year although oil imports continued to rise far faster than domestic production. On Dec. 31, the official English-language China Daily reported that increases in oil and gas output were "helping strengthen energy security" in 2020, citing data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).

"It is the first time that oil production picked up momentum after production dropped for three consecutive years," the paper said.

The report sowed confusion because it apparently used production numbers from 2019, identifying them as from 2020. The NEA had released higher production figures quoted by the official Xinhua news agency and Reuters earlier in the month.

According to the NEA's director, Zhang Jianhua, crude oil production last year was estimated to reach 194 million metric tons (3.87 million barrels per day), a 1.6-percent increase from 2019 output of 191 million tons (mmt), as recorded by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

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