The potential of domestic production and imports of oil and gas in China: an energy return on investment perspective

Zhao-Yang Kong,Xin Wan,Da-Lin Tang,Xiu-Cheng Dong,Gui-Xian Liu,Qian Shao

doi:10.1007/s12182-016-0120-7

Abstract

Concerns about China’s energy security have escalated because of the country’s high dependency on oil and gas imports, so it is necessary to calculate the availability of domestic oil and gas resources and China’s ability to obtain foreign energy through trade. In this work, the calculation was done by using the energy return on investment (EROI) method. The results showed that the EROIstnd (i.e., standard EROI) of China’s oil and gas extraction decreased from approximately 17.3:1 in 1986 to 8.4:1 in 2003, but it increased to 12.2:1 in 2013. From a company-level perspective, the EROIstnd differed for different companies and was in the range of (8–12):1. The EROI2,d (EROI considering energy outputs after processed and direct energy inputs) for different companies was in the range of (3–7):1. The EROI of imported oil (EROIIO) declined from 14.8:1 in 1998 to approximately 4.8:1 in 2014, and the EROI of imported natural gas (EROIING) declined from 16.7:1 in 2009 to 8.6:1 in 2014. In 2015, the EROIIO and EROIING showed a slight increase due to decreasing import prices. In general, this paper suggests that from a net energy perspective, it has become more difficult for China to obtain oil and gas from both domestic production and imports. China is experiencing an EROI decline, which demonstrates the risk in the use of unsustainable fossil resources.

Highlights

Few issues, if any, are as fundamentally important to industrial societies and their economies as the future oil and gas supplies (Cleveland 2005; Gagnon et al 2009)
The results showed that the EROIstnd of China’s oil and gas extraction decreased from approximately 17.3:1 in 1986 to
The growth in energy consumption in turn leads to a decrease in the energy return on investment (EROI), which is entirely consistent with the fact that until

Summary

Introduction

If any, are as fundamentally important to industrial societies and their economies as the future oil and gas supplies (Cleveland 2005; Gagnon et al 2009). Oil and gas provide nearly 60 % of the world’s energy China has become the world’s largest energy consumer, with consumption increasing from. Oil and gas comprise approximately 25.5 % of the consumption of primary energy resources (Safronov and Sokolov 2014). Due to China’s limited domestic production capacity, increasing amounts of oil and gas have been imported from counties such as Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, and Australia (Kong et al.2015). Over the last 7 years, China’s dependency on imported oil (IO) has increased by 21.5 % annually, and in

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Discussion

Conclusion