Aenert news. Energy Market & Energy Statistics
The National Bureau of Statistics of China has published regular statistics on industry production for the third quarter of 2023. Gross domestic product (100 million yuan) during this period was 319992.3, up 3.9% from the same quarter last year. This means that China's economic growth has significantly slowed this quarter, from 4.8% in the second quarter of 2023. On an annual basis, when comparing GDP for the third quarter of 2023 and the same quarter of 2022, the growth was 3.5%.
Accordingly, the state of the global economy is also slowing down or at least uncertain, since China is one of the most important participants in global production.
At the same time, the indicators of consumption and production of energy products in China in 2023Q3, in comparison with last year’s data, show steady growth in almost all indicators.
Thus, in the 3rd quarter of 2023, the growth in crude oil production was 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year, natural gas - 7.3%, electricity generation - 5.3%, coal production - 1.75%. They increased especially noticeably Processing Capacity of Industrial Crude Oil immediately by 17%.
China Energy Production 2022 Q3 - 2023 Q3
| Production/Q | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q4 | 2023 Q1 | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production of Crude Oil (average daily output, thousand tons) | 552.7 | 553 | 583 | 581 | 561.3 |
| Processing Capacity of Industrial Crude Oil (average daily Processing Capacity, thousand tons) | 1780.3 | 1936.7 | 2004.5 | 2023.3 | 2081.7 |
| Production of Natural Gas (average daily output, million cubic meters) | 550 | 630 | 665 | 616.7 | 590.0 |
| Industrial Power Generation (Average Daily Power Generation, TWh) | 25.13 | 22.66 | 23.01 | 22.94 | 26.47 |
| Import of crude oil (average monthly, thousand tons) | 39 306 | 45 983 | 45 463 | 48636.7 | 47410 |
| Import of natural gas (average monthly import, thousand tons) | 9 233 | 9 403 | 8 933 | 10 003 | 10 440 |
| Raw Coal Production (average monthly, million tons) | 376.60 | 388.03 | 383.8 | 385.67 | 384.23 |
| Coal Import (average monthly, million tons) | 28.7 | 30.8 | 33.9 | 40.0 | 41.91 |
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China
Imports of crude oil and natural gas also increased significantly: crude oil - by more than 20%, natural gas - by 13%. But the most impressive thing was the growth in coal imports. Here the growth was 46%.
When comparing energy production data for 2023 and the previous quarter, the picture changes noticeably. First of all, it is necessary to highlight the reduction in the production of all major fossil fuels - crude oil, natural gas, and coal.
The dynamics of changes in the total volume of electricity generation, as well as its components, are shown in the figure below.
Electricity Generation by type energy source
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China
The main thing to note here is the significant increase in electricity generation from renewable sources. At the same time, the share of hydropower increased by 0.8%, wind generation – by 0.4% and solar generation – by 0.5%.
The share of power generation sources. Left – 2022 Q3, right – 2023 Q3
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China
This made it possible to reduce the share of electricity generation from fossil resources by 1.6%.
By the Editorial Board
