Relatively warm winter weather and buyers' aversion to high LNG prices mean China looks likely to avoid massive natural gas shortages this winter (WGI Oct. 16'13). The shortfalls were widely predicted after the government ordered gas-fired heating to be used instead of coal to cut pollution — sparking fears of a huge winter spike in spot LNG prices — but an official in charge of domestic gas sales at state PetroChina tells WGI that the "shortages are not as severe as expected. It's mainly because temperatures are higher than historic averages." Demand was also crimped after government officials asked users to buy imported spot LNG from state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp. in preference to cheaper pipeline supply from PetroChina. "LNG is costly, and users have to weigh the benefits," the PetroChina official said. A source at PetroChina parent China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) complains the forecasts were wrong in the first place, as "the demand prediction people are lacking experience and don't look at weather forecasts."
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