China to boost GCC oil imports

Gulf hydrocarbon producers supplied China with around 55 per cent of its oil needs in 2012 and the exports are expected to surge to 65 per cent by 2015, according to a GCC study.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which control nearly 40 per cent of the world’s proven oil deposits, have also become the 8th largest market for Chinese products and 9th exporter to the most population nation on earth.

The study, presented to a GCC-Chinese economic conference held in China recently, showed two-way trade between the GCC and Beijing peaked at nearly $95 billion in 2012, including about $55 billion worth of GCC exports to China.

Joint investments were estimated at around $65 billion at the end of 2012 but there are no accurate figures on the investment of each side, said the study, presented by Abdul Rahim Hassan Naqi, secretary general of the Dammam-based federation of the GCC chambers of commerce and industry.

“The GCC countries have become the largest oil suppliers to China, exporting nearly 55 per cent of its total crude imports in 2012. Exports are expected to rise to 65 per cent by 2015.”