China's May Gas Consumption Up 18% on Year
China’s natural gas consumption in May was 22.53bn m3, up nearly 18% year on year, country’s top planning body National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said June 22.
Demand for gas has been trending higher since early last year, driven by government’s coal to gas switching policy. During the first four months of 2018, China's gas consumption was 90.6bn m3, up 17.7% year on year. In 2017, country's gas consumption rose 15% on year to 237bn m3, according to NDRC data.
State-owned explorers have ramped up production to meet the rising demand. From January to April, natural gas production was 53.1bn m3, a year on year increase of 4.9%. China’s natural gas production during May was 12.62bn m3, up 6% year on year. Last year, gas output in China rose to a record 147.4bn m3, up 8.5% from 2016, according to NDRC.