In 2023, annual natural gas consumption increased in all economic sectors within China, with residential and commercial consumption increasing by 8%, or 0.7 billion ft3/d, and electric power consumption increasing by 10%, or 0.5 billion ft3/d. Residential and commercial natural gas consumption in China has grown every year since 2014, almost tripling from 3.6 billion ft3/d in 2014 to 9.3 billion ft3/d in 2023, as more customers switched from coal to natural gas for home heating. In the electric power sector, additional economic activity and new natural gas-fired capacity increased consumption.
Domestic natural gas production in China provided 58% of its natural gas supply in 2023, averaging 21.7 billion ft3/d, an increase of 6% (1.2 billion ft3/d) from 2022. Domestic production has grown by more than 1.0 billion ft3/d every year since 2017, mainly from discrete natural gas reservoirs and associated natural gas from oil production. Production from low-permeability formations, such as tight gas, shale, and coal-bed methane, has also increased and averaged 8.6 billion ft3/d in 2023. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–25) set a domestic natural gas production target of 22.3 billion ft3/d by 2025, most of which was met in 2023.
In 2023, China’s natural gas imports averaged 16.0 billion ft3/d and accounted for 42% of China’s total natural gas supply, compared with 15% of its supply in 2010. Natural gas is imported into China by pipeline and as LNG.
China became the world’s largest LNG importer in 2023, the second time since 2021. In 2023, China’s LNG imports averaged 9.5 billion ft3/d, an increase of 13% from 2022, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. Last year, the countries supplying the most LNG to China were Australia (34% of total LNG imports), Qatar (23%), Russia (11%), and Malaysia (10%).
Annual imports by pipeline increased by 6% in 2023, averaging 6.5 Bbillion ft3/d. Pipeline imports increased mainly from Russia via the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, which continued to ramp up to full production, with a target to reach 3.7 billion ft3/d in export flows by 2025. A second pipeline from Russia to China — Power of Siberia 2 with a proposed design capacity of 4.8 billion ft3/d — is currently in the planning phase.