Plausibility of China as a Petroleum Exporter?

Delta Force

Banned
As early as the 1920s Manchurian oil shale deposits were a major source of petroleum for Japan, and the deposits continue to produce petroleum today for the PRC. The Daqing Field also exists in Manchuria and has been the largest oil field in China since the 1960s, and it's possible that even more petroleum might lay in the Bohai Bay.

I'm wondering if it might have been possible for China to have developed a larger petroleum industry earlier than it did, especially prior to the 1950s. Could China have become a major source of petroleum in the region, such as supplying Japan? Could it have competed with Indonesia as an international scale exporter? What would the implications be for the region and the Soviets/Russians if China was able to become an exporter?
 

Ian_W

Banned
China was an exporter for a long time.

However, the same thing happened to them as happened to Indonesia and indeed onshore Texas - they havent ever found a replacement for their major field, and their domestic consumption kept going up, up and up.
 
Between 1965 and 1993, China was a net exporter.

The PRC never stopped exporting oil ever since the 1960s. The country started her oil export towards Japan in 1973, in exchange for heavy machinery which China needed. From 1980 onwards, around 1/4 of oil China produced were set aside for export in exchange for hard currency.

Even after China became a net importer of oil in 1993, petroleum export still continued. Even today, China export some oil to Hong Kong and ASEAN countries.
 
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