China’s fear of reliance on foreign suppliers means it plans to keep its biggest oil company as the world’s top-cost driller this year, even as it says the country’s crude demand is plateau.

Petrochina Co. plans to raise 239 billion yuan ($37 billion) in annual capital expenditures, the company said in its annual results on Thursday. This is more than the global majors, including Saudi Arabia Oil Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell plc, who are cutting costs in managing the cost of oil and fuel demand as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

China’s rapid recovery from Kovid-19 means its demand for oil and gas has fully recovered from the epidemic-driven epidemic in early 2020, and President Xi Jinping is putting energy security at the forefront. Earlier this month, the government called for an increase in domestic production of coal, oil and gas over the next five years, an effort that is at odds with a perpetual long-term plan to demonize the economy.

Petrochina’s outgoing President Duan Liangwe told a news conference on Thursday that the country’s demand for crude oil has already reached a plateau and the use of refined products will be finalized and will decline in the next decade. Demand for natural gas, one of the cleaner fossil fuels, is still expected to grow, and Petrochina is focusing on upstream flows there.