Asian oil production is declining at a faster rate than other regions worldwide, and China accounts for about half of the anticipated decline, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said.
“We estimate 2016 production of 7.5 million b/d will fall by over 1 million b/d by 2020,” said Angus Rodger, WoodMac’s Asia-Pacific upstream research director.
Rodger said the region’s output has been falling by about 7%/year since the oil-price slump started in late 2014.
Meanwhile, oil demand is growing in China and India. China reported that imported crude accounted for 64% of the country’s demand in 2016.
Asia’s biggest oil producers are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Giant, mature fields in Indonesia, Malaysia, and China will underpin regional production, but these fields require expensive techniques, Rodger said in a video posted on the WoodMac web site.