China's April Gas Output Rises
China’s natural gas production during April was 12.9bn m3, up 6.3% year on year, according to statistics bureau data released May 15. However, compared with March production was down. Last month, China produced 13.5bn m3 of natural gas.
During January-April, production was 52.63bn m3, a year on year increase of 4%. With sharp increase in gas demand, state owned explorers have ramped up production. Last year, China's natural gas production was 147.42bn m³, up 8.5% year-on-year, according to statistics bureau data.
Strong demand has not only resulted in higher domestic output, but gas imports have also seen a sharp surge. China’s gas imports have been trending higher since the start of 2017. Last year, Chinese gas imports totalled 68.57mn mt LNG equivalent, up 27% year on year, with the increase most pronounced in the last quarter when it was around 40% up year on year.