Foreign media: China's oil and gas production reached a historical high of 420 million tons of oil equivalent in 2025, with crude oil output reaching 216 million tons, yet the National Energy Administration still warns the industry faces "huge challenges."
Mature oil fields are rapidly depleting, and newly discovered resources are mostly located in deep, ultra-deep, deepwater, and unconventional areas, leading to high exploration and development costs, long cycles, and difficulties in replacing production capacity.
Therefore, the 2026 target is set conservatively at maintaining crude oil output above 20 million tons and continued growth in natural gas, highlighting the tension between energy security demands and resource constraints amid escalating geopolitical risks and instability in the Strait of Hormuz.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871411423531008/
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