Oil Energy Thread (oih)

[madrose1]

07:56 China crude oil imports may decline, says Cnooc's Fu - Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg.com reports China's oil imports, a driving force behind record prices, have "stabilized'' and may decline within three years as govt measures to conserve fuel take root, Cnooc Ltd. Chairman Fu Chengyu said. Shipments will stay near 130 mln metric tons a year before dropping, helping global prices ease in the "long term,'' Fu, who runs China's third-biggest oil co, said in a July 18 interview. That prediction contrasts with Titan Petrochemicals Group, the country's largest oil-supertanker owner, which forecasts a jump of as much as 15% in 2006 imports. "The policies on energy saving will take three to five years to implement,'' Fu said in Beijing. "I feel confident that energy imports won't be as much as we thought before.'' Achieving the govt's targets will involve shutting factories that waste energy, setting efficiency limits for cars and increasing fuel prices to curb use. Briefing.com note: China's oil imports soared by 17.6% in the first half of this year, propelled by a surging economy, the govt said Thursday.