Sinopec's Ex-Chair Fu Urges China to Self-Supply Over 80% of Its Energy in 10 to 15 Years
Liao Shumin
DATE:  May 30 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Sinopec's Ex-Chair Fu Urges China to Self-Supply Over 80% of Its Energy in 10 to 15 Years Sinopec's Ex-Chair Fu Urges China to Self-Supply Over 80% of Its Energy in 10 to 15 Years

(Yicai Global) May 29 -- China should embark on a long-term strategy and spend the next 10 or 15 years achieving the goal of generally self-supplying the energy the country needs.

This means providing more than 80 percent of the energy it uses from its own resources, Fu Chengyu, former chairman of Beijing-based China Petrochemical, the world's largest oil refining, gas and petrochemical company, said today, Shanghai Securities News reported. 

China's net volume of imported crude oil reached 460 million tons last year, up 10 percent annually, and its foreign dependence ratio also climbed to 71 percent. Net natural gas imports were 120 billion cubic meters last year, up 32 percent to surpass Japan and top the world, with a foreign dependence ratio of 43 percent, statistics China's National Energy Administration released last month show.

China should accelerate the development of new and renewable energy to achieve this goal of energy autarky, Fu said in a public speech to a financial forum today, adding "renewable energy's proportion can reach 15 percent next year, but we will add another 15 percent to that ratio in the next five to 10 years as technological advances have greatly lowered costs."

China should also focus on developing shale gas, he continued, noting the country's resources of the fuel are buried deep in remote areas without infrastructure. Extraction costs have plummeted after several years of development, however, and the government should therefore slash taxes on and lending rates for the energy source as soon as possible and issue timely policies to support companies' growth in the industry, he also advised.

Fu also urged development of a clean coal system. China has achieved major technical gains in the clean coal field, but it still calls for further investment and transformation, he noted. 

Fu served as Sinopec chairman from April 2011 to his retirement in May 2015. Wang Yupu, ex-deputy director of China Academy of Engineering and an oil sector veteran, succeeded him.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   Crude Oil,Natural Gas,Shale Gas,Energy Supply