Over the first four months of 2025, China produced 1.58 billion tons of coal, which was 6.6% higher than the output booked for the same period a year earlier. In April alone, China produced 3.8% more coal than a year ago, at 389.31 million tons. This was down from a month earlier when production hit a record, but still strong enough to cement coal’s role in the country’s energy mix.
Chinese fossil fuels output fell in April from the record levels hit in the prior month, although natural gas, crude oil and coal all delivered increases compared to the previous year as the government continues to prioritize security of supply despite weaker prices.
Crude oil prices were set for a weekly gain after a string of losses on the news of a trade war ceasefire between the U.S. and China, which sparked hopes the two would come to a mutually beneficial understanding that would end the tariff spat.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has announced a major shale gas exploration breakthrough of its Project Deep Earth – Sichuan and Chongqing Natural Gas Base. The vertical depth of the well reaches over 5,300 m with a 1,312-m-long horizontal section, setting a new record for vertical depth of shale gas wells in China.
The current trading cycle is for crude loaded in July, and any cargoes bought now for June is considered prompt. Traders were mixed on the reason behind the purchase, with some pointing to a supply overhang in the Middle Eastern market – meaning cheaper barrels – and others flagging costlier fuel oil.
Chinese demand also registered a decline in terms of LNG from state-run companies, with Bloomberg reporting that China re-exported over 280,000 tons of LNG in April to date, clocking in as the highest single-month re-export volume on record. The re-export volume represents nearly 8% of total imports for April.
Four cargoes of propane have shifted their routes from China to alternate destinations over the past week, bound for countries including Japan and South Korea, according to a report from analytics firm Vortexa. At least one cargo of ethane — which is used in plastics production — has been scrapped entirely, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In January, China’s National Energy Administration said it was eyeing stable oil production of over 200 million tons in 2025. Two months later, oil production in the world’s largest importer of the commodity hit an all-time high of 4.6 million barrels daily, per official data. China is taking “Drill, baby, drill” to heart.
Oil prices may decline further this year as new production swells and demand remains capped by China’s faltering growth, the head of the International Energy Agency said.
While crude futures have recovered over the past two weeks to trade near $68 a barrel on London, they remain roughly 9% below levels traded before President Donald Trump announced a blizzard of tariffs on China and other nations on April 2.
The U.S. move to penalize China-built and China-owned vessels calling at U.S. ports could lead to an oil supertanker made in China and operated by a Chinese company facing a fee of up to $5.2 million per call at a U.S. port, shipbrokers have estimated.
The U.S. last week announced fees on vessel owners and operators of China based on net tonnage per U.S. voyage. The previous proposal was a per-port-entry fee of up to $1.5 million on Chinese-built vessels, and up to a $1 million per-port-entry fee on any vessel (Chinese-built or non-Chinese-built) for operators that have any Chinese-built vessels in their fleet or orderbook.