The Chinese government will issue a policy in less than two
months' time to regulate the use of natural gas and alleviate a
shortage in supply, Thursday's China Securities Journal
reports.
The policy will encourage oil companies to build more natural
gas pipelines and cities to put into service more buses and taxies
powered by natural gas, sources with the National Development and
Reform Commission was quoting as saying.
But local governments will need to be persuaded that the
operation of gas-powered buses will be financially viable as the
report also states that the government will raise the price of
natural gas "in the near future" to encourage energy
efficiency.
Restrictions will be imposed on the synthetic ammonia and
formaldehyde industries, which use natural gas as a raw material,
in order to make natural gas supply available to other sectors.
It also aims to help the gas-rich but economically
underdeveloped regions to develop the advanced processing industry
and prevent local governments around the country from embarking on
"excessive" natural gas projects.
China's natural gas output rose from 27.2 billion cubic meters
in 2000 to 49.3 billion cubic meters in 2005, outpacing the growth
in the output of any other form of energy in the period. But the
supply is still falling short of the soaring demand.
(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2007)