China's oil imports or usher in a change

On the 16th, local time, the visit to Saudi Arabia was ended. The Chinese Premier Wen Hao, who had just visited the United Arab Emirates, attended the Fifth World Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. In his speech at the summit, Wen warmly proposed four suggestions for solving future energy problems. First, give top priority to energy efficiency. Second, vigorously develop renewable energy and clean energy. Third, actively promote energy technology. Effectively protect energy security.

The World Future Energy Summit was initiated in 2008 by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and held in Abu Dhabi in January each year. This is the first time that Chinese leaders have attended the summit. Against the background of the tense situation in Iran, Premier Wen Jiabao was invited to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar from the 14th to the 19th and was widely interpreted by the outside world.

Saudi Arabia is China's largest crude oil supplier, and Qatar has recently become China's largest liquefied natural gas supplier. The data shows that in the first 11 months of 2011, China’s crude oil imports from the above three Middle Eastern countries amounted to 1.15 million barrels per day, almost 1/4 of the country's total crude oil imports.

Wen said at the summit, “In order to stabilize the oil and natural gas markets, we can consider establishing a global energy market including energy suppliers, consumers, and transit countries under the framework of the G20 and based on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. In order to make the global energy market safer and more stable, we must establish a fair, reasonable and binding international rule through consultations and dialogues and build multilateral coordination mechanisms such as forecast and early warning, price coordination, financial supervision, and security and emergency response in the energy market. continued."

Energy security is a key focus of Wenzhou's speech. According to a report from the National Energy Administration, China’s oil dependence in 2011 exceeded 57%. Energy security has become an issue that industry experts are worried about. This year, tensions in Iran have heightened this concern.

"Even if there will be no war between Iran and the United States this year, oil prices will continue upward. The situation in West Asia and North Africa will once again make China's energy security issue a focal point. Relevant parties must formulate early measures." China Energy Research Association Energy Wang Hailan, a diplomatic expert, told reporters.

In the recent game between the United States and Iran, Chinese oil companies have also been affected. On January 12, the U.S. State Department announced that it imposed sanctions on three companies in Iran, including Zhenhai Zhuhai, who have trade relations with Iran.

The oil giants PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC have all slowed their investment in Iran recently. During Wen’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the two sides proposed to expand crude oil and natural gas trade and upstream and downstream cooperation and deepen energy partnership in all directions.

Sinopec and Saudi Arabian National Petroleum Corporation also signed a joint venture agreement to build an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. According to the agreement, the two companies cooperate to build a refinery with a total investment of nearly US$10 billion.

“In order to cope with the increasingly severe challenges of energy security, we do not rule out that China will change the pattern of oil imports and make appropriate adjustments,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Energy Economic Research Institute at Xiamen University.

However, how quickly China adjusts its oil imports from the Middle East and how much it will have will affect the current situation in Iran. Several foreign and energy experts all told reporters that the current variables are still very large and there is no way to predict.