ranking first in the world. Daqing, Shengli, Liaohe, Tarim and other large oilfields have been successively built as oil production bases, and the output of crude oil has increased steadily, ranking China the world's fifth-largest oil producer in 2006, with 185 million tons in that year. The output of natural gas ballooned from 14.3 billion cu m in 1980 to 58.6 billion cu m in 2006. The proportion of commercial renewable energy in the structure of primary energy keeps rising. The electricity sector also reported speedy growth in 2006. The installed capacity reached 622 million kw, and the amount of power generated was 2,870 billion kwh, both ranking second in the world. A comprehensive energy transportation system has been developed quickly, with the transport capacity notably improved. Special railways transporting coal from the west to the east and relevant coal ports, and pipelines transporting oil from the north to the south and conveying natural gas from the west to the east have all been built. Now, the power generated in the west can be carried to the east, and the regional power grids have all been connected up.
— Energy-saving effects are conspicuous. During the period 1980-2006, China's energy consumption increased by 5.6 percent annually, boosting the 9.8-percent annual growth of the national economy. Calculated at 2005 constant prices, the energy consumption for every 10,000 yuan of GDP dropped from 3.39 tons of standard coal in 1980 to 1.21 tons in 2006, making the annual energy-saving rate 3.9 percent, putting an end to the rising trend of per-unit GDP energy consumption. The comprehensive utilization efficiency in the processing, conversion, storage and end-use of energy was 33 percent in 2006, up eight percentage points over 1980. Per-unit product energy consumption has dropped noticeably, and the gaps between the overall energy consumption, the net energy consumption rate of electricity generation for steel and cement production as well as synthetic ammonia produced by plants with an annual output of 300,000 tons or more and the international levels are narrowing.
