July 15, 2024 [Oilprice]- China’s natural gas production increased by 6% in the first half of the year compared to the same period a year earlier as state companies are boosting domestic output with new field start-ups.

Chinese natural gas production stood at 123.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) in January to June, up by 6% year-over-year, per data by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Monday.

In June alone, China’s natural gas production jumped by 9.6% compared to the same month of 2023, according to the official statistics data reported by the Xinhua news agency.

Earlier this year, for example, state energy giant Sinopec started production at a natural gas field that has an annual capacity estimated at 2 billion cubic meters. The field, located in the province of Sichuan, has reserves estimated at around 100 billion cubic meters, which makes it an important contributor to China’s domestic natural gas output, Sinopec said in March.

Apart from raising domestic output, China is boosting natural gas imports this year to meet rising demand with LNG at lower prices than in the past two years.

China’s imports of natural gas, including via pipeline and LNG cargoes, rose by 14.3% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period of last year.

Despite the higher volumes of imported gas, the Chinese import bill for the first half fell by 0.8% to $31.7 billion, as LNG prices were lower than year-ago levels early this year.

China boosted its natural gas imports in the period January to April, as it looked to stockpile fuel for the power plants ahead of the summer amid international prices that were half last year’s levels in the first four months of 2024. Chinese imports of natural gas were estimated to have jumped by 21% between January and April compared to a year earlier.

China could beat its 2021 all-time high of LNG imports this year, as industrial and commercial sectors are set to drive demand for the super-chilled fuel, an official at state-held energy giant PetroChina said in May.

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