China's gas market to have 240 bcm of natural gas supplies by 2015 - NDRC
Shanghai. March 18. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's gas market will have 240 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas supplies annually by 2015, state media reported on March 18, citing a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
According to Xinhua news agency, Jiang Xinmin, a researcher with NDRC's Energy Research Institute (ERI), said at an industry forum on March 17 that China is expected to produce more than 150 bcm of natural gas annually by 2015, while importing more than 50 bcm of natural gas annually via pipelines from Central Asia, Myanmar and Russia. The country will also import 30 bcm of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum by 2015, Jiang said, bringing the annual aggregate of natural gas supplies to between 230 and 240 bcm by 2015.
To increase market gas supplies and transmission capacity, Jiang said that China will build 24,000 kilometers of gas pipeline and four LNG terminals in the next five years.
Unconventional gas supplies, such as coalbed methane (CBM), tight gas and shale gas, will also continue to grow in the next five years. Jiang speculated that China's aggregate output of these supplies could reach anywhere from 10 to 30 bcm by 2015, while synthetic natural gas (SNG), a product of coal, will exceed 10 bcm by 2015.
-TW