China may not maintain record gas demand

Gas auctions underperform, signalling a slow start to 2025 after bumper 2024

China’s gas market grew faster than the economy for the second year running in 2024 but appears to be off to a slow start this year as recent gas auctions on the country’s main trading hub for the fuel have been underwhelming—suggesting weak downstream demand over the first quarter that could limit Chinese spot LNG procurement.  China’s apparent gas consumption expanded by 8% year-on-year in 2024, to 426bcm, the fastest growth since 2021 and accelerating from an increase of 7.6% in 2023, according to state economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission. The two consecutive years of demand growth followed a surprise contraction of 1.2% in 2022, the same year the bursting of t