In today’s talking points: China implements numerous gas measures to stimulate investment and third-party access; Customers’ burden to increase amid rising coking coal prices; China to urge sustainable development of the economy; Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production to increase in line with Chinese national priorities.
China implements numerous gas measures to stimulate investment and third-party access
China is implementing numerous measures to boost transparency in the natural gas sector to encourage private investment. The goal is to triple the fuel’s role in China’s energy mix. The country currently is the top energy user in the world, and it plans to boost the use of natural gas since it emits only half of the greenhouse gases that burning coal produces. China wants gas to supply about 15 percent of its total energy by 2030, from just 6 percent currently. Lack of transparency in transportation costs has curbed investment by the private sector, and control by the state-owned energy companies has limited third-party access.
Read more at Reuters
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, Japan’s biggest steelmaker, plans on passing most of the burden of the rising coking coal prices to the customers. The price of the key steelmaking material has surged as China, the world’s largest coking coal producer, has cut supply to tackle overcapacity and pollution. “Unless China softens its cap on coking coal output or U.S. coal export starts to surge, coking coal prices will likely remain high,” says Toshiharu Sakae, Nippon Steel’s executive vice president. He further adds, “We plan to slash our expenses by 60 billion yen (US$557.78 million) or more this financial year (to March 31), but this (high coal prices) is too much for us to absorb by our efforts to cut costs.” The company is planning on passing 80 percent of the extra coal cost in price hikes to the customers.
Read more at Reuters
China to urge sustainable development of the economy
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed China ‘should foster an energy system that is clean, low-carbon, secure and efficient’, in a meeting of the State Energy Commission in Beijing held yesterday. China still relies heavily on coal for its power supply, thus making the greening of energy supply both necessary and urgent. There is also a mention of greater and acceleration of the development of hydro, wind, solar and biomass energy, as well as nuclear energy. Premier Li also exclaimed on the deepening international cooperation in the energy sector.
Read more at China.org.cn
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production to increase in line with Chinese national priorities
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) says that it will ramp up its LNG production, as it becomes another important pillar industry in the national and global energy sector. With Australia being CNOOC’s ‘core business area’, the company has intensified its involvement with the country both upstream and downstream in the North West Shelf Project, with a rapid growth in the provision of technical services.
Read more at The Australian