Middle East crisis may accelerate shift in world’s largest crude importer
A child walks along a hiking trail near oil storage facilities of China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical in China’s Zhejiang province on March 21. © Reuters
HOUSTON, Texas — Chinese oil consumption could peak considerably sooner than projected, the head of a major Chinese state oil and gas company’s research arm suggested at a conference in the U.S., just as the conflict in the Middle East threatens supplies for Asia.