Chinese natural gas consumption could rise by 77% by 2015

China's National Petroleum Corp. reports today that natural gas "apparent" demand could increase by 77 percent in 2015 over this year as the country steps up use of cleaner- burning fuels to curb carbon emissions. Consumption may rise to 230 billion cubic meters in 2015 from 130 billion this year, Apparent demand takes into account domestic output and net imports but excludes stockpiles.

Chinese energy companies, including CNPC’s Hong Kong-listed unit PetroChina Co., are boosting gas output to meet demand by starting up new domestic fields and acquiring overseas assets. China is also expanding its capacity to receive liquefied natural gas imports on its eastern coast and has started taking delivery of piped gas from Turkmenistan after opening a pipeline that runs through Central Asian countries in 2009.

Domestic gas output may rise about 11 percent this year to 105 billion cubic meters, while imports may exceed 30 billion cubic meters, CNPC said in the report handed out to the media at a briefing in Beijing today.

Piped gas imports may reach 15 billion cubic meters and LNG imports may be more than 12 million metric tons, according to the report.

CNPC plans to “intensify” purchases of global oil and gas assets in the five years through 2015, the company said in a statement on its website today. PetroChina made $6.9 billion of acquisitions in countries from Australia to Singapore in the past two years and has said it plans to spend at least $60 billion to buy assets this decade.

Shale Gas

China is boosting the use of cleaner-burning fuels, including unconventional gas, to help meet a goal to cut carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by as much as 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. Gas trapped in shale, coal seams and impermeable sandstone, is collectively known as unconventional gas.

CNPC and Statoil ASA have started preliminary exploration for shale gas in China, and aim to produce a total of 500 million cubic meters (17.6 billion cubic feet) of the resource by 2015, according to presentation materials handed out to the media at the briefing.

The country’s unconventional gas output will total 12 billion cubic feet a day by 2030, Gavin Thompson, director of China gas research at consultant Wood Mackenzie, said on Nov. 25. Shale gas output will reach 8 billion cubic feet a day by then, he said.