Encouraged by the investors’expectation over the fiscal cliff negotiations, the U.S. crude oil futures price experienced the biggest rise in over two months. As of the close of business on the 27th, New York crude oil futures price closed at US$ 90.87 a barrel, up 0.89% over the same period last week; London Brent futures price closed at US$ 110.8 a barrel, up 0.53% over the same period last week.

The NDRC data show that domestic natural gas production reached 9.8 billion cubic meters in November, an increase of 11.4% from the same period of last year; imports of natural gas reached about 3.8 billion cubic meters, an increase of 22.5%. The apparent consumption was 13.6 billion cubic meters, with a daily average 454 million cubic meters of gas, an increase of 15.1%. According to data from the General Customs Office, China imported a total of 1.082381 million tons of liquefied natural gas in November, a year-on-year decline of 16.29%.

From January to November this year, the petrochemical industry realized an accumulative total industrial output value of 9.8539 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 12.5%. The figure for the chemical industry was 6.538 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 13.6%; and that of the refining industry 3.0486 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 9.3%.

Xu Shaoshi, Minister of Land and Resources, said on the 25th that from 2008 to 2011, China has added 5.01 billion tons of new geological oil reserves, and 2.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas geological reserves and 279.8 billion tons of coal reserves. From 2008 to 2011, 370.8 billion yuan was invested in mining exploration, representing an increase of 1.1 times in the previous four years.
The National Development and Reform Commission issued "An Emergency Notice on Securing the Current Stable Supply of Natural Gas" on the 27th of December. It called on member units of the coal, oil and gas transportation security departmental coordination system to take timely measures to increase the effective supply of resources. All local departments are required to adjust the structure of gas use in accordance with the natural gas use policy and to develop appropriate policies and measures to prioritize and ensure the needs of the people are met.