China Isn’t Pursuing Energy Independence
The world's largest importer of oil and gas has the territory and reserves to vastly increase production. But Beijing continues to bet instead on seaborne trade, prioritizing growth over war.
By the end of 2024, China is expected to displace the U.S. as the world’s largest consumer of oil.1 At an estimated 44,276 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy consumption in 2022, China consumes more energy than any country in the world by a considerable margin, 66% more than the United States, which comes second.2 But whereas U.S. energy consumption has stagnated since 2000 and, per capita, peaked all the way back in 1973, both China’s total and per capita energy consumption have grown about ten times over since the 1970s and remain on an upward trajectory.3 This vast hunger for energy has been satisfied primarily by domestic coal mining. As of 2022, 55% of China’s total energy consumption—including electricity, transportation, and heating—came from coal, followed by oil at 18% and natural gas at 8%.4 But, over time, China has been slowly meeting more demand with nuclear power, solar photovoltaics, and natural gas. Although it is not usually thought of as such, China is a major global producer of oil and gas thanks to its vast territory.