China’s oil deficit to exceed US$ 40 bln this year

Latest statistics from the Customs General Administration show China imported 63.42 mln tons of crude oil in the first half of 2005, a year-on-year increase of 3.9 percent. China spent US$ 15.169 bln on oil import, a year-on-year rise of 42.2 percent. The import of oil products decreased 21 percent to 15.7 mln tons, but the money spent on oil products increased 0.8 percent to US$ 4.5 bln.

In 2004 China spent US$ 43.16 bln on importing crude oil and oil products. In the first half of this year the amount reached US$ 26.1 bln, and the figure for the whole year is expected to exceed US$ 50 bln.