China’s government on Wednesday moved to shore up ailing demand for natural gas across its economy with deep pricing cuts aimed at spurring greater use by domestic industry. The cuts, announced by the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, slashed benchmark city-gate prices by 0.7 yuan ($0.11) per cubic meter for industry and commercial users. Analysts said the move, expected for the past several months, effectively equaled a 28% cut in average city-gate prices nationwide. The cuts are important, not least because they signal Beijing is serious about weaning its reliance on coal as part of cleaning up China’s economy. At the same time, the price cuts could slow domestic exploration and production of shale deposits in western China, analysts said. City-gates prices refer to the prices local distributors pay pipeline operators such as PetroChina Co., and have a […]