Citing data from the National Energy Administration, China’s natural gas consumption is anticipated to increase this year by 6.5% to 7.7% over the previous year, potentially reaching 425 billion cubic meters. This year’s production increased significantly as well. Due to state enterprises’ new field start-ups that improve domestic output, it climbed by 6% over the first half.
From January to June, 123.6 billion cubic meters were produced. According to government statistics, China’s natural gas production increased by 9.6% in June alone as compared to the same month in 2023. As the nation’s overall consumption increased, imports increased concurrently. The first half of the year saw a 14.3% increase in imports, including pipeline and LNG, to 64.65 million tonnes.
This increase was partly due to falling petrol costs, which made the commodity more accessible to Chinese consumers. According to Bloomberg estimates, the average price of LNG delivered to North Asia in the first quarter of 2024 was little over $9 per million British thermal units (MBtu), while the average price of LNG in the same period the previous year was $18 per MMBtu.
To become less dependent on imports, China has been working hard to increase the amount of energy commodities produced domestically. To achieve this, the Chinese government established a new umbrella firm earlier this month, which comprises the oil giants Sinopec and CNPC in addition to businesses from other sectors including China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, steelmaker Baowu, and equipment manufacturers.
