China to accelerate oil exploration to ensure its energy security

BEIJING, Oct 17 – PRIME. To ensure its own energy security, China intends to intensify efforts to explore and develop oil and gas, as well as accelerate the construction of storage facilities and terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG), said Ren Jingdong, deputy head of the State Administration for Energy Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

“Energy security is a strategic issue related to the socio-economic development of the country, and is crucial for the prosperity and development of the country, the improvement of people’s lives and the long-term stability of society,” Ren Jingdong said at a press conference held as part of the 20th Congress Communist Party of China.

He pointed out that since the 18th CPC Congress in 2012, the country’s energy supply system has been gradually improved, its quality and efficiency have improved, and the energy self-sufficiency ratio has remained above 80%. It not only helped China cope with the pandemic and major natural disasters, but also effectively responded to the impact of global energy price fluctuations on the country’s development, providing a reliable energy guarantee to promote high-quality socio-economic development, he said.

“For China, which is a major producer and consumer of energy, ensuring energy security has always been a priority,” he said.

Ren Jingdong added that in order to ensure energy security, China intends to strengthen its foundation, in particular, adhere to domestic diversified supplies, make full use of the role of coal as a stabilizing factor and the fundamental regulatory role of thermal power, “strongly increase efforts in the exploration and development of oil and gas, and strive to achieve a total annual energy production capacity of more than 4.6 billion tonnes of fuel equivalent (coal equivalent) by 2025.”

“At the same time, further creation and development of the system of coal and oil reserves is necessary, in particular, the construction of facilities such as reserve storage facilities and liquefied natural gas terminals should be accelerated in order to ensure a rational margin of energy supply flexibility,” he said.