China's Natural Gas Consumption in July 2011 Up 32% from July 2010

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China's apparent natural gas consumption reached 11.1 billion cubic meters in July 2011, an increase of 32% from July 2010 and a 3% increase from June 2011, according to the data issued by the General Customs Administration of China (GCAC).

As a result of the rapid growth in consumption, the import volume of natural gas also increased sharply. In July 2011, it accounted for 25% of the apparent consumption in China, while it accounted for just 15% in July 2010.

In July 2011, China imported 1.54 billion cubic meters (or 1.18 million metric tons) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 7 different regions. The import volume of LNG from the top three countries--Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia--accounted for 66.5% of the total import of LNG in the month, an increase of 66% from July 2010 and a jump of 14% from June 2011. However, the import of natural gas from Turkmenistan dropped to 1.18 billion cubic meters in July 2011, a drop of 4% from June 2011.

In July 2011, the average price for natural gas imported in China reached $8.2 per million British thermal units (excluding value-added tax), an increase of 32% from July 2010 and an increase of 1.1% from June 2011; the average price for LNG imported in China reached $8.3 per million British thermal units, an increase of 46% from July 2010 and an increase of 2.2% from June 2011; and the average price for natural gas imported from Turkmenistan reached $8.1 per million British thermal units, which stayed at the same level from last year and the previous month.

In order to encourage the importing of natural gas, the Chinese government plans to implement a tax refund for 13% of the value-added tax levied from natural gas imports at present. Insiders estimate that about 58% of the value-added tax levied from natural gas imported from Turkmenistan will be refunded.

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