OREANDA-NEWS.  February 07, 2013. China aims to keep its foreign oil dependency within the 61 percent margin by 2015, the Beijing Times reported today. According to the country's guidelines for new energy development from 2011 to 2015, the strain on the country's GDP caused by energy purchases will be 16 percent lower in 2015 than it was in 2010.

According to statistics, 57 percent of China's oil came from overseas in 2011, around two percent more than the amount imported the previous year. Considering China's annual output is currently at only 200 million barrels, how realistic is it that the country will be able to keep foreign oil dependency within 61 percent in two years time?

Zhongyu Consulting Analyst Zhang Yonghao points out that China is investing a lot of energy into looking into a variety of unconventional oil production methods, which include extraction and application of shale oil, coal-based oil and extra heavy crude oil. The use of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol, is also being strongly encouraged as a measure to decrease oil dependency.