Natural Gas Shortage

Many regions nationwide – particularly the northern provinces – faced an acute shortage of natural gas in the winter of 2017-18 due to surging demand in the industrial sector and the authorities’ stringent measures to replace coal with natural gas for cleaner air. Almost 3.2 million households in 28 cities and regions surrounding Beijing switched from coal to gas last year. Total natural gas consumption from January to October 2017 was 186.5 billion cubic meters, up by 18.7 percent year on year, and more than 240 billion cubic meters were expected to be consumed nationwide in 2017, resulting in a shortage of 11 billion cubic meters. Gas shortfalls are likely to be commonplace in China for the next five years, leaving many households and schools without heat due to unfinished clean energy heating projects and gas shortages. Experts cautioned that clean energy reform is necessary but local governments have to tread carefully to avoid impacting the livelihood of the public by keeping gas prices stable and ensuring adequate supply.