Which Country Imports the Most Oil?

China has overtaken the US as the biggest importer of oil. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), oil consumption in China overtook production by 6.3 million barrels, as compared to 6.1 in the US.

Thanks to low international prices, the country was able to import oil in order to make up this shortfall. The shortfall was attributed to the damage to China’s own oil fields, caused by flooding, which led to less production. This was coupled with the fast-growing economy of the country.

The US actually uses more oil than China, some 18.6 million barrels of oil per day, as compared to China's 10.9 million. This is despite having around a quarter of China’s population. But America is starting to produce more of their own oil, through the use of fracking and other methods.

Eric G Lee, a commodities analyst at Citigroup, who was the first expert to report on China’s increased oil importation, said: “The US is taking strides towards energy independence.”

The head of European oil and gas research at Macquarie, Jason Gammel, said that using this method, the US could reasonably expect to produce 20-22 million barrels of oil per day. This is achievable by the year 2022. “The US has moved very quickly to utilise fracking and horizontal drilling activities,” he said.

The US already has its own large oil field services, and so are well equipped to exploit new reserves. However, the largest of China’s oil fields are now mature, and have reached a peak in their production.

China, in theory, could follow the US and explore fracking as an alternative to importation, but they face one problem. Despite having the world’s largest shale gas and oil reserves, these deposits are not readily accessible or easily mined.

Moreover, fracking requires enormous amounts of water in order to free the petroleum material in the rock. Water is scarce in China, as farmers barely having enough for their agricultural use. However, experts warn that reliance on oil imports is risky. At present, prices are low, and supplies available, but this may not be always the case. Experts estimate that by using fracking and horizontal drilling, the US can expect to see total annual petroleum and other liquids production to rise by 31% between 2011 and 2014.  This will generate 13.3 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, production from China is forecast at a much lower increase of just 5% over the same period, and only a third compared to US production in the year 2014.

China is planning to improve its own domestic oil pipelines, by expanding them. This in order to utilise imports from several oil producing countries, such as Russia and Kazakhstan.

What next?

The substance nicknamed “black gold” has been the cause of many disputes. Oil, as a highly sought-after material, has the power to make or break a country’s fortunes. Those lucky enough to find vast natural deposits of it in their country can ride its wave to prosperity … but which countries produce the most oil?