Bloomberg: China To Reform Gas Prices Gradually To Boost Use, Zhou Says

China will reform its natural-gas pricing mechanism gradually to ensure the fuel, which pollutes less than coal, remains affordable as the government encourages its use, the country’s biggest energy company said.

“Promoting the use of gas is a national strategy, which requires appropriate pricing of the resource,” said Zhou Jiping, president of state-owned PetroChina Co., the world’s third-largest company by market value. The government is studying the possibility of extending the trial of a new pricing method to cities beyond those in two southern provinces, he told reporters at the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur today.  MORE