Due to the rapid economic growth and booming automobile purchases, China's net import of crude oil rose by 17.6% year on year in the first half of 2006, state media said Aug. 13.
Net imports of crude oil rose to 70.33 million tons while that of refined oil products increased to 12.03 million tons. China imported 18.23 million tons of refined oil and exported 6.2 million tons in the January-June period. According to officials, China's crude oil purchases cost the country US$32 billion and refined oil products cost $4.37 billion.
Angola, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia were the top four oil suppliers for China during the six-month period.
During the first six months, China produced 91.66 million tons of crude, up by 2.1% over the same period last year, and 84.82 million tons of refined oil, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.6%. Both hit a new production record, compared with figures for past years according to statistics from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
