An oil specialist predicted that China's oil import could reach 120 million tons and the country's total oil consumption could exceed 300 million tons in 2004.

China is to process 270 million tons of crude oil and the overall oil consumption can hit 30.8 million tons, said Tian Chunrong, a senior engineer with the information department of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), China's largest oil refiner.

Fuel consumption is expected to keep rising to 48.5 million tons in 2004 owing to the strong demand of the thriving power generation industry, Tian said at a recent seminar on China's oil market in 2004 held in Haikou, the capital of the southernmost island province of Hainan.

The demand for fuel has triggered import increase, Tian said. Statistics show that China's fuel import reported a year-on-year rise of 69 percent in the first four months than that of the same period of last year.

Diesel export was expected to decrease remarkably in 2004 as domestic demand is soaring, in particular in its power generation and transport industries, Tian said.

The yearly diesel consumption is expected to increase from 84 million tons in 2003 to 95.50 million tons in 2004. The net import of diesel went up to 400,000 tons in the first four months, and the figure is projected to reach 1.2 million tons by the end of the year, a record high in six years, according to Tian.

The rapidly expanding private car population contributes to the fast growth of gasoline consumption, Tian said. The annual consumption of gasoline was expected to increase from 40 million tons in 2003 to 45 million tons in 2004.

The gasoline export dropped one third in the first four months than that of same period of last year, he said. The gasoline export reported a record high of 7.54 millions tons in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)