According to China Petroleum and Chemical Information (CPCI), an online publication focusing on China petroleum and chemical industry and the Asia-Pacific petrochemical market, China produced 83 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2009, up by 7.7 percent compared with 2008.
The statistics showed that China's apparent consumption of natural gas in 2009 amounted to 87.45 billion cubic meters, surging by 11.5 percent year-on-year. The domestic shortage of natural gas reached more than 40 billion cubic meters in comparison with output.
In the 21st century China's natural gas market has developed greatly. Natural gas consumption saw annual double-digit growth, which amounted to 80.7 billion cubic meters in 2008, more than three times that of 2000. China s domestic output was 76.08 billion cubic meters in 2008, increasing by 12.3 percent year-on-year. The gap between supply and demand hit nearly 5 billion cubic meters hence China became a net importer of natural gas.
With rapidly developing projects such as the natural gas pipeline in Central Asia and the liquefied natural gas project in China, it can be expected that China will see a significant increase in natural gas import.
