China's apparent demand for gas in December rose 14.1% year on year to a record high of 16.26 billion cu m, according to Platts calculations of recently released government data.
China does not release consumption data on gas. Platts calculates apparent demand by taking into account domestic production and net imports of LNG and pipeline natural gas.
The surge in apparent demand last month was due to record high LNG imports, which rose 33.3% year on year to 2.43 million mt, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Wednesday.
LNG supplies from Qatar hit a new high of 1.09 million mt last month, more than double volumes received in December 2012.
China imported 1.85 million mt of natural gas via pipelines last month, up 20.1% year on year. Customs data records natural gas trade in metric tons, similar to LNG imports.
This brought total gas imports in December to 4.28 million mt, or roughly 5.91 billion cu m, a 27.1% jump from the same month in 2012.
Domestic production in December rose 11.1% year on year to 10.91 billion cu m, data from the National Bureau of Statistics Thursday showed. Excluding exports to Macau and Hong Kong, totaling 560 million cu m, apparent demand in December totaled 16.26 billion cu m. FULL-YEAR GROWTH ALSO ROBUST
China's gas demand has grown at a double-digit pace in the last few years because of higher consumption from multiple sectors such as commercial and residential users, industrial customers, the transport sector as well as for power generation.
Apparent demand for gas last year totaled 162.78 billion cu m, rising 15.4% year on year, according to Platts calculations.
China's total natural gas pipeline imports in 2013 jumped 37.2% from 2012 to 20.07 million mt, while LNG inflows were up 22.7% to 18 million mt, bringing total gas imports for the year to 38.07 million mt, or about 52.58 billion cu m, a 30% year-on-year hike.
Total domestic natural gas production during the year stood at 112.94 billion cu m, a 9.1% increase from 2012. Excluding exports to Macau and Hong Kong of 2.74 billion cu m, China's apparent demand for gas in 2013 was 162.78 billion cu m.
China's dependency on gas imports last year averaged 32.3% of total apparent gas demand, rising from 28.7% in 2012.
China added new sources of LNG last year, with cargoes arriving from Angola and the Netherlands, while volumes from non-traditional suppliers such as Yemen, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea rose significantly.
Pipeline gas imports also started from Myanmar in August last year.
Beijing-based 3E energy consultancy is forecasting a 15% year-on-year rise in total gas consumption this year. The firm did not provide absolute figures in its report released Monday.
State-owned China National Petroleum Corp., meanwhile, is expecting total gas consumption this year to grow by 11% to 186 billion cu m, with natural gas and LNG imports totaling 63 billion cu m.
