Launched in 2019 the OIES China Energy Research Programme, is a center of analytical excellence offering insights into the factors that inform China’s energy policies and choices and their pivotal role in global energy markets.
China is the world’s second largest economy, biggest importer of crude oil, the fastest growing consumer of natural gas as well as the world’s top coal producer and emitter of CO2. The country is endowed with vast reserves of oil, gas and coal all of which it aims to develop in order to enhance its energy security, but, it is also seeking to spearhead a technological revolution in support of its energy transition.
In light of its voracious appetite for energy, its domestic resource potential and its technological ambitions, the way in which China chooses to develop its domestic resource base, consume energy and engage with global markets is of extreme importance to producers, consumers and traders of energy. But the country’s command economy, alongside the dominance of state-owned companies still inform policy design and implementation and are key to understanding the evolution of China’s energy mix and markets.
The China Energy Programme at OIES delves into these developments and offers insights into the factors that inform China’s energy policies and choices.
The Programme is grateful to its Sponsors for their support, without which its research would not be possible.
Anders Hove
Michael Chen
Gabriel Collins
Barbara Finamore
Philip Andrews-Speed
Sheryl Ruan
Stephen O’Sullivan
Wei Zhou
Yan Qin
Research is carried out by the programme staff in close coordination with the other OIES programmes and in collaboration with leading researchers and institutes in China and the West. Research will be disseminated via a dedicated research paper series, energy comments, sponsors’ visits, and specialised events.
For information about the programme and questions, please email: Michal Meidan
In this third episode on the geopolitics of energy and China, Anders Hove discusses China’s dominance in critical materials with Patrick Schröder, Henry Sanderson and Philip Andrews-Speed. They ask why China matters for the mining and processing of critical minerals used in new energy supply chains, how China has established itself as a key player […]
In this podcast Michal Meidan talks with Neil Beveridge and Sergey Vakulenko about the role of gas in China’s energy mix and Russia’s evolving energy ties with China. Beveridge begins with a discussion of the weakness in China’s gas consumption in 2022 and the extent to which it will shape the future trajectory. He outlines […]
In this podcast Anders Hove talks with Herbert Crowther about the role of Chinese clean energy firms in the new geopolitics of energy and the dilemmas they face. Crowther, a 2023 Schwarzman Scholar and an analyst with Eurasia group, discusses the uncertainties facing Chinese renewable manufacturers: While they are set to retain an “unavoidable presence” […]
Between 2008 and 2018, China’s gasoline demand doubled, from 1.5 mb/d to 3 mb/d, with gasoline alone accounting for over a third of the country’s total product demand growth. This was closely related to rising incomes and the phenomenal growth of China’s private car fleet. As a result, Chinese refiners and global markets are expecting the next stage of China’s […]
The Chinese government has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. But even as it adds renewable sources to the energy mix, China will likely remain reliant on imported oil and gas for decades to come. This research project is based on oil and gas demand and supply scenarios […]
Diesel has been the most important refined product in China’s oil demand, accounting for a third of consumption in 2018 and for 25% of oil demand growth on average between 2008 and 2018. Historically, diesel was consumed in industry as well as in freight, fuelling trucks and commercial vehicles. But China’s industrial diesel demand has […]