Oil majors ponder output cuts as crude prices fall, costs rise

Due to the lower output from domestic oilfields, China will have to rely on crude imports to meet its growing demand for oil, experts said.

In recent years, China's oil output has stayed roughly unchanged, while demand surged from 439 million tons in 2009 to 488 million tons in 2013.

The share of imported crude in the overall oil stocks has risen from 36.69 percent in 2005 to 57.39 percent in 2013, according to the CNPC Economics and Technology Research Institute.

In addition to crude imports, acquiring overseas oil and gas assets is another important way to meet the growing domestic demand and ensure energy security, said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research of Xiamen University.

Chinese energy companies, led by State-owned giants like China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, have acquired several overseas assets in the past decade.

According to a report from the institute, Chinese companies had 110 million tons of overseas oil and gas output in 2013, up 10 percent compared with the previous year.

In addition, the country has also been making efforts to explore offshore oil and gas resources.

CNOOC, the largest offshore oil and gas producer in the country, said in December that it had 93 offshore oilfields and 13 gas fields in production. In 2014, the company owned 200 offshore production platforms, compared with 146 in 2009.