China's Natural Gas Strategy

Natural gas will play a major role in China's efforts to clean up the air and cap carbon emissions. The State Council demands that the share of natural gas would need to be increased to above 10% in China's fuel mix by 2020, meaning that the country's gas use needs to double between 2015 and 2020. But gasification of this scale is full of uncertainty. Where will the additional gas supply come from? Can gas demand be created so quickly? How does the drastic decline in international oil prices complicate the process? What kinds of institutional and infrastructural changes would need to be made in order to further expand the role of gas beyond 2020? Backed up by 30 interviews with the industry and policy stakeholders in China, the presentation aims to shed light on these issues.