According to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s crude oil output dropped by 4.8% year-on-year to 100.45m tons in H1 of 2016, reported China Daily.

Xinhua wrote that the drop came as the oil companies in China, the world’s second-biggest crude consumer, reduce output due to low crude prices. The world’s biggest refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), plans on cutting production by 7.5% this year, while PetroChina, the nation’s largest oil producer, aims to reduce output by 4.8%. Bloomberg added that both companies have said that they will shut down high-cost fields in 2016 after prices crashed to the lowest since 2003.

From January to June 2016, China has refined 256m tons of crude oil, up 8.9% year-on-year. Output of refined oil products rose by 7.1% to 159m tons, while consumption of refined products has risen by 4.4% to 141m tons, according to China Daily.

During the same period, natural gas output has increased by 2.9% to 67.5bcm, imports burst by 21.2% to 35.6bcm, and natural gas consumption rose by 9.8% year-on-year to 99.5bcm. According to Bloomberg, this indicates Beijing’s intentions to shift toward the cleaner-burning fuel.