Bloomberg: China Natural Gas Price Cuts Seen Luring Customers From Coal
China’s natural gas demand has been boosted by price cuts aimed at switching users from coal to the cleaner-burning fuel, according to one of the country’s biggest gas distributors.
ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. has seen its sales rise more than 15 percent in January and February as lower prices encouraged customers to switch, Vice Chairman Cheung Yip Sang said in an interview in Hong Kong. ENN expects full-year sales to rise 15 percent, following last year’s 11.5 percent jump to 11.3 billion cubic meters.
“The movement really picked up a lot of momentum,” Cheung said. “The higher burning efficiency of gas and government pressure for better emission standards will help convert more industrial users from coal to gas.”
President Xi Jinping’s government adjusted gas prices twice last year to stimulate demand and shift consumption from coal, which makes up 64 percent of the country’s energy mix. The share of natural gas may rise from its current 6 percent, the company said last week, adding that users switching from coal made up 39 percent of new commercial and industrial customers last year. MORE