IEA: China To Become Top Gas Importer In 2019 Boosted By LNG

China will become the world’s top importer of natural gas next year, boosted by LNG purchases, as its superpower economy grows and weans itself off coal-generated energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on June 26.

In its Gas 2018 annual report, the IEA said Chinese demand for natural gas will rise by almost 60% between 2017 and 2023 to 376 billion cubic meters (Bcm), including a rise in its LNG imports to 93 Bcm by 2023 from 51 Bcm in 2017.