With China’s economic growth likely stuck at around 6% and the domestic car market remaining weak, the expansion in demand will continue to slow, even after the signing of a phase-one trade deal with the U.S., CNPC’s Economics & Technology Research Institute said Monday in its annual report. The state-owned firm is China’s largest oil company.
“Negative impacts on the economy from U.S.-China trade frictions won’t be rooted out in the short term,” CNPC said in the report. The world’s two largest economies are set to draw a line under their dispute this week with the signing of an interim accord in Washington.
China’s apparent demand for oil -- that’s production plus net imports and changes to stockpiles -- may grow about 2.4% this year to 671.3 million tons, the researchers said, compared to a 5.2% rise for 2019. It would be the slowest pace since the global financial crisis of 2008, according to historical data from BP Plc, and a potential headwind for global prices given China’s heft in the market.
