China's monthly natural gas imports from leading supplier Turkmenistan rebounded in December from the previous month, arresting a three-month fall, as state energy firms geared up to cover a winter supply crunch. December imports by pipeline from Turkmenistan jumped 19 percent to 1.89 million tonnes from November's 1.59 million tonnes, and were up 0.2 percent from a year ago, detailed data from China's General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.
The figure was in line with industry officials' expectations that the central Asian exporter was ramping up supplies after shipments slipped for three months in a row. China's aggressive push to heat homes and power factories with natural gas in 28 northern Chinese cities this winter has caused a surge in demand for the fuel, outpacing supplies. Demand for heating rose further from late December as residents faced freezing weather and heavy snow falls.
Full year supplies from Turkmenistan, which make up nearly 40 percent of China's total gas imports, rose 13.3 percent to 24.5 million tonnes. Overall, China imported 2.86 million tonnes of pipeline natural gas in December, up nearly 23 percent from the same month a year ago, with much faster growth in supplies from smaller exporters Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Myanmar. For the whole of 2017, Kazakhstan ramped up supplies by 160 percent. However, supplies from Uzbekistan fell 18 percent, while Myanmar supplies were down 12 percent.
Lower than expected exports from Turkmenistan over the previous few months were partly blamed for exacerbating China's supply crunch.
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