The spotlight focused on China in 2017 with the country seeing a massive 50 percent rise in LNG imports, Geoffroy Hureau, secretary general of Cedigaz, an international non-profit association dedicated to natural gas information said Monday.
Hureau, speaking during the European Gas Conference in Austria's capital Vienna, hailed 2017 as a good year for natural gas.
The LNG market expanded in Asia with Japan taking the lion's share followed by China.
"There are maybe other players also, but China is fundamental [for the LNG market]," he said.
Hureau also noted that 2017 was also a good year for coal, growing similarly to gas.
"But this is not good news for the future," he warned.
In 2017, China's imports of natural gas were around 68 million tonnes, of which 38 million tonnes were in the form of LNG.
Japan is the leading natural gas importer with 83.5 million tonnes, all as LNG. However, many experts believe that China could overtake Japan and take the lead in the near future.
(Anadolu Agency)
