China may have reached ‘peak oil

China's oil consumption in 2024 was 240,000 barrels per day lower than in 2023, at 11 million barrels per day. This is the first time in 20 years, apart from the period of the pandemic, that Chinese demand for oil has fallen. While the current economic situation (property crisis, weak consumption) is weighing on oil demand, some of the fall could have more structural causes: the rise of electric vehicles, growth in the number of lorries running on liquefied natural gas. So much so that some experts are wondering whether China has not reached ‘peak oil’, beyond which oil consumption declines inexorably, whatever the economic climate.