China to be world's top oil importer

China will overtake the US as the world’s top oil importer by 2014, according to a report this week by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), The Wall Street Journal reported. OPEC cited the US shale gas boom reducing the country’s demand for oil and China’s steadily rising oil imports as the primary factors in the shift. China’s crude oil imports rose 8% year-on-year in December, reaching 5.57 million barrels per day, OPEC said. The Washington-based Energy Information Administration said the US imported 7.95 million barrels of crude oil per day as of January, down 8% from August.