The sharp rise in oil prices is causing concern in China, to the point that, despite the austerity policy being pursued by the Asian giant, its oil companies have significantly increased their investment budgets.

China's three largest oil companies —PetroChina, Sinopec, and Cnooc—plan to invest US$84 billion in 2022, almost 5% more than in 2021. In fact, PetroChina and Sinopec are the oil companies with the largest investment budgets this year, surpassed only by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company.

2022 investment budget of the world's largest oil companies

(US$ millions)

Source: Bloomberg