Reuters: PetroChina's Gas Imports Growth to Slow Sharply in 2015

PetroChina plans to import only slightly more natural gas this year than in 2014 due to slower demand growth and higher domestic production, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

China's largest gas producer and importer plans to bring in 40.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in 2015, compared with 39.7 bcm last year, an increase of 1.8 percent against the 13-percent growth seen in 2014.

China, one of the world's top five gas users, recorded the slowest demand growth last year in more than a decade for the cleaner-burning fuel, as an easing economy cut into demand from the industrial and transportation sectors.

PetroChina's procurement plan came after it reported a 35-billion-yuan ($5.65 billion) loss in marketing the imported gas last year as the cost of the mostly pipeline gas from Turkmenistan, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and Yemen, were higher than what the state energy firm could charge at home. MORE