BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China imported 64.78 million tonnes of natural gas in the first nine months of 2018, up 34 percent year on year, Li Kuiwen, spokesman with the country’s customs authority said on Friday.
During the period, China imported 336 million tonnes of crude oil and 24.59 million tonnes of product oil respectively, up 5.9 percent and 9.8 percent year on year.
Fatih Birol, Executive Director with International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the global natural gas market is in a transition period, and China is developing into a major natural gas market. As of the end of November, China is expectedto surpass Japan and become the world's largest natural gas importer.
Early in July, the IEA predicted that China would contribute 37 percent to the global natural gas consumption growth in the period of 2017-2023, higher than any other country. By 2023, China's import volume of natural gas will reach 171 billion cubic meters, most of which are liquefied natural gas (LNG). (Edited by Ma Xin, maxin11@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
