Crude oil output to hit 215m tons this year

China's domestic crude oil output is on track to hit a record 215 million metric tons in 2025, underscoring the country's intensified push for energy self-reliance amid persistent geopolitical volatility and tightening global supply chains.

This milestone caps a period of strong exploration success and stable output growth, pushing China's oil and gas sector into a new phase of production increase, efficiency gains and green development, said the National Energy Administration.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), China has cumulatively added 105 million tons of new crude oil production capacity. Offshore crude oil has been a major growth driver, consistently accounting for over 60 percent of the nation's total new petroleum output for five consecutive years, it said.

According to a recent report released by China National Offshore Oil Corp's Energy Economics Institute, while clean power is developing rapidly and gradually becoming the largest terminal energy source, fossil fuels remain indispensable, serving as the "ballast stone" that ensures energy accessibility and system stability.

The ocean has become a high ground for global energy supply. It is estimated that over 30 percent of oil and 37 percent of natural gas will come from the ocean, said the report.

Chai Qimin, director of the strategic planning department at the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, said global investment in energy transition has been continuously growing in recent years, surpassing $2 trillion in 2024, with China leading globally with a 39 percent share.

The NEA said that in the natural gas sector, China's output has achieved year-on-year increases of 10 billion cubic meters for nine consecutive years, solidifying its position as the fourth-largest natural gas producer globally.

Natural gas production is projected to reach 260 billion cubic meters in 2025, marking an increase of 35 percent compared to the end of the previous five-year plan period.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, cumulative newly proven geological reserves of oil have surpassed 7 billion tons and natural gas reserves have exceeded 7 trillion cubic meters, a reserve increase of approximately 43 percent for oil and 40 percent for natural gas compared to the previous five-year period.

To support this growth, the national oil and gas pipeline network has expanded to 195,000 kilometers, accelerating the formation of a unified national grid.

Hu Jianwu, deputy director of the NEA's petroleum and natural gas department, said China's oil and gas industry is entering a new stage of quantitative and efficiency increases alongside green development, establishing a more secure, efficient and resilient modern oil and gas production, supply, storage, and sales system.

This system provides a solid guarantee for national energy security alongside stable economic and social development, Hu said.