Coal’s loss to be gas’ gain, IEA says

摘要

Chinese natural gas demand appears poised to rebound, because of a combination of price cuts and a government clampdown on coal use, the IEA says. Lower prices failed to boost consumption in Asia-Pacific last year, the IEA’s latest Medium-Term Gas Market Report says. Regulated rates in China did not respond quickly enough to falling oil prices, causing a substantial decline in gas’ competitiveness compared with oil. Higher gas prices relative to LPG may have slowed a transition away from cylinder use for residential heating and cooking, and discouraged the increased adoption of natural gas-fuelled vehicles. China’s apparent gas demand-net imports plus production-slowed to 3pc last year, its lowest rate in a decade, Argus estimates. This exacerbated a decline in overall Asia-Pacific consumption, and a shift in the centre of demand growth west, BP says in its latest Statistical Review of World Energy, with Europe, the Middle East and north Africa driving prices.