State researcher: China's oil demand will peak in 2027 and is up 100,000 bpd from this year.

A state oil researcher stated on Monday that China's total demand for oil, including all its products, will peak in 2027. This year, the sector of petrochemicals is expected to increase by about 100,000 barrels a day, due to increased volume.

The researcher says that the soaring use of electric vehicles (EVs) in China, which is the largest oil importer in the world, has eroded fuel demand. EVs are expected to replace at least 582,00 barrels of gasoline per day this year.

Researchers at the APPEC Energy and Petrochemicals Conference in Singapore said that the country's independent teapot refiners operate at 45% capacity this year. This is down from 60% last and 70% in 2023.

The researcher stated that China's petrochemicals will not reach its peak until 2050. This year, ethylene demand is expected to grow by 8% and propylene by 7%.

A second state researcher who spoke at the same event stated that LNG use in heavy trucks will replace 38 million tonnes of diesel (775,00 bpd), by 2030.

The second researcher predicted that oil demand for petrochemicals will reach 230 millions tons per year by 2030. Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Trixie Yap; Writing by Tony Munroe, Editing by Helen Popper and Sonali Paul

(source: Reuters)