With major pipeline projects with Russia and other countries either on line or on the way, energy security, once a prime concern for China, is beginning to yield to other more pressing problems.

“In the short term, there will be much less concern regarding security of supply for oil and gas,” Mr. Wang said. The economics of existing deals and investment and how to reform the country’s oil and gas sector in the context of low prices — and profits — are moving to the forefront, he said.

Because of China’s large consumption base, incremental demand volumes for oil remain large. IHS expects China to continue to be significant in terms of global oil consumption growth, accounting for 30 percent to 40 percent of new oil demand growth through 2020.

Last year was a turning point for coal consumption in China’s coastal region, where the first phase of intensive economic development began in the late 1970s. In 2014 coal consumption along the coast peaked, with consumption rising in the central and western regions, Mr. Zhou of IHS said.

“The coast has already peaked for several reasons, including slower growth but also environmental pressure, which has made it difficult to site new coal-fired power plants and industrial boilers,” he said. However, he added, coal consumption will continue to grow, peaking in the 2020s.

Now new facilities are being built in the interior, both for power transmission to the coast and to serve indigenous consumption growth.

The days of China’s reliance upon coal to produce as much as 75 percent of its electricity are coming to a close, for two reasons. The first is the shift away from an economy focused on industry, which currently accounts for 80 percent of China’s coal consumption. The second is political: Last November, China and the United States agreed to reduce greenhouse emissions, with China pledging to hit a peak for carbon dioxide by 2030.