BCN-24 China natural gas imports up 28.3 pct in September

266

ZCZC

BCN-24

CHINA-ENERGY-GAS

China natural gas imports up 28.3 pct in September

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) — China’s imports of natural gas continued fast
growth in September while domestic production increased steadily, official
data shows.

Imports of natural gas surged 28.3 percent year on year to 7.62 million
tonnes last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows.

The pace was 9.7 percentage points slower than the increase recorded in
August. In the first nine months of this year, imported natural gas totaled
64.78 million tonnes, up 34 percent year on year.

China’s imports of natural gas have seen steady growth to meet increasing
domestic consumption, partly driven by government initiatives of using clean
energy for winter heating instead of coal.

Natural gas output increased by 8.5 percent in September, 1.2 percentage
points slower than in August, the NBS data shows.

BSS/XINHUA/HR/1430