Faced with rising natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports to meet growing demand, China is trying to raise its domestic gas production, including by setting up incentives for shale gas and coalbed methane production. Back in 2010, imports accounted for just 15 percent of China’s natural gas supply. By 2018, the share of imports in the country’s gas supply surged to nearly half—45 percent—of total supply. As consumption has been vastly outpacing domestic natural gas production, China has been looking in the past two years to raise its own production. Even at a slower pace, China’s natural gas demand continues to grow and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Aiming to boost domestic production, China’s government introduced earlier this year new incentives for gas production from tight formations and rolled over existing subsidies for production from shale and coalbed methane until 2023. According to EIA […]