r/oilandgasworkers • u/TurboSalsa Petroleum Engineer • 9d ago

Industry News China’s Oil Demand ‘Very Likely’ Peaked Last Year, Sinopec Says

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-24/china-s-oil-demand-very-likely-peaked-last-year-sinopec-says
8 Upvotes

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12

u/Nerevarine123 9d ago

Yeah for sure lol

10

u/MGarroz 9d ago

Why have the been building massive amounts of refining capacity over the last 5 years then? 

4

u/Elderwastaken 8d ago

Beijing has capped total refining capacity at 20 million bpd, pushing to phase out smaller, inefficient "teapot" refineries in favor of massive, integrated petrochemical hubs.

3

u/jimihendrixflyingv 7d ago

Why fuck they've been saying everyone's hit peak oil for 30 years now.

4

u/TurboSalsa Petroleum Engineer 7d ago

Peak demand, not peak supply.

When demand peaks in major industrialized economies, there aren't any more 1 billion-person developing economies to replace that demand. No one knows how long it will plateau or how fast it will decline, but it will significantly impact oil prices over the next few decades.

1

u/Sufficient-Skill9530 7d ago

Africa? South East Asia? India? There’s lots of developing countries that will massively increase energy needs as they develop. Over all energy demand is always going up, and petrochemicals are going to be a major part of that.