China's oil demand in 2013 is expected to rise to 514 million metric tonnes, up 4.8 percent, a research institute affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp., the country's biggest energy producer, said Wednesday.
In an annual report, the CNPC Research Institute of Economics & Technology said oil demand is expected to "bounce back slightly" in line with a nationwide "economic rebound" this year.
China's economy slowed in the first three quarters of 2012 before recovering in the fourth quarter.
The CNPC affiliate didn't say how it calculated domestic oil demand or whether it included crude oil or refined oil products in the calculation.
Net imports of crude are expected to rise 7.3 percent to 289 million tonnes, or 5.8 million barrels a day, in 2013, it said. Dependence on foreign crude is expected to rise to 58 percent, it added.
Dependence on foreign crude was 57 percent in 2012, customs data showed.
The country's demand for refined oil products will rise 5.8 percent to 293 million tonnes, growing at a slightly faster rate than in 2012, CNPC said.
Output of oil products will rise 6.2 percent to 299 million tonnes.
China's apparent consumption of natural gas will rise 11.9 percent to 165 billion cubic meters, CNPC said, but didn't say how it calculated it.
Natural gas will account for 5.8 percent of the country's total energy mix in 2013, it added.
Natural gas imports will rise 23.8 percent to 53 billion cubic meters, mostly due to a rise in supplies from Myanmar.
Liquefied natural gas imports will rise 14.6 percent to 16.5 million tons, while natural gas imported via pipeline will reach 30 billion cubic meters, up 31.6 percent.
The combined domestic production of natural gas and coal-bed methane gas will reach 115 billion cubic meters in 2013, up 6.8 percent.
CNPC also said China's crude-oil refining capacity will grow 6.9 percent to 614 million tons in 2013. The country will process 489 million tons of crude in 2013, up 5.4 percent.
