China will need 200 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year by 2020, quadruple its current needs, but hopes to produce more than half of it domestically, a senior industry official said on Tuesday.
Jiang Zhaozu, vice chairman of the Investment Association of China, said the country would produce 120 bcm of gas in 2020 from its own fields - around two times last year's output - but need to import 80 bcm of liquefied natural gas.
"We were planning to use the imported gas for power generation, but have decided to shift it to residential use after a rise in the international LNG price," Jiang told a media briefing in Shanghai.