OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2014. Growth in China’s oil consumption slowed to an annual rate of 1.7 percent in 2013 as stricter requirements on environmental protection drove natural gas demand, according to a report released.

The country’s total consumption of oil reached 498 million tons last year. The 1.7 percent increase marked a decline of 2.8 percentage points compared with 2012, according to the report by the CNPC Economic and Technology Research Institute.

The growth rate is also sharply lower compared with an average rate of 6.7 percent during the first 10 years of the new century, when oil consumption boomed along with the country’s rapidly growing economy.

The CNPC, or China National Petroleum Corp, is the parent of PetroChina and is the nation’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier.

Yesterday’s report said 58.1 percent of China’s oil consumption depended on overseas supplies in 2013, flat from 2012. The report also forecast that oil consumption this year will continue to expand to 518 million tons, growing around 4 percent.

Growth in oil consumption slowed last year as the government took a tougher stance on environmental protection following heavy air pollution affecting a large part of the country since early 2013.

The slowdown contrasts to a surge in natural gas consumption. The report estimated that China’s natural gas consumption expanded 13.9 percent last year and that imports jumped 25 percent to 53 billion cubic meters.

Duan Zhaofang, a researcher at the institute, predicted natural gas consumption will grow 11 percent this year to 186 billion cubic meters.