China reduced oil and gas consumption in 2022, but it is expected to increase in 2023
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that China's oil and gas consumption fell in 2022. This drop is the first seen in several decades.
China's policy aimed at lifting COVID restrictions is likely to restore domestic energy demand. Analysts predicted that the course chosen by the government could contribute to higher oil and gas prices in the short term.
Reduced consumption in China turned out to be minor, but extremely important, as the country is deemed to be the leading importer of oil and gas around the globe. Most experts are confident that the same trend is going to persist over the next few years.
Demand for black gold in the Celestial Empire fell by 3% (390,000 bpd) last year, being the first since 1990. On the other hand, there has been a 2.2 million barrels per day (2%) gain in global oil demand.
The IEA estimated that global demand is set to increase by 2 million barrels per day in 2023, with half coming from China.
A similar picture can be seen with gas. Its consumption fell by 0.7%, i.e. the first drop since 1982. The LNG imports decreased by 21%, pushing China down to second place in consumption after Japan.
The IEA predicted that global demand for gas is likely to grow by 0.4% in 2023. As for China, the country's gas consumption will increase by 6.5%.
Demand for gold surged to an 11-year high last year. This is due to large-scale purchases on the back of high activity by retail investors and a slowdown of ETF outflows.
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