High Oil Prices Speed Up China’s Shift Away From Crude
CREA said EV charging volumes rose 60% as higher fuel prices and supply disruptions pushed Chinese drivers away from gasoline and diesel.
- China's oil consumption fell 9% in the second quarter of 2026, marking the first decline driven primarily by reduced oil use rather than coal, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air reported.
- Following the Strait of Hormuz crisis, fuel prices rose sharply, accelerating shifts in China's transportation sector as drivers turned to charging stations over gas pumps.
- EV charging volumes increased 60% in the second quarter, while electric vehicles displaced 19m tonnes of oil—a 50% increase year-on-year, according to CREA data.
- This drop in oil demand helped reduce China's overall CO2 emissions by 1% during the quarter, though power-sector emissions rose 3% as grid operators continued favoring coal-fired generation.
- Analysts describe this structural shift toward electrification as a permanent change in energy consumption patterns that is unlikely to be reversed, reshaping China's long-term energy trajectory.
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11 Articles
High Oil Prices Speed Up China’s Shift Away From Crude
China’s oil consumption fell 9% year over year in the second quarter as expensive crude accelerated the use of electric cars, trucks, rail and industrial equipment. The decline helped cut China’s carbon dioxide emissions by 1% during the quarter, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. It was the first quarterly emissions decline in China driven primarily by lower oil consumption. Power-sector emissions rose …
China's shrinking appetite for oil behind emissions cut for first time
Analysis: China’s CO2 Emissions Fall in Q2 2026 Due to Plummeting Oil Use - CleanTechnica
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles. China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter ...
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