Trailing Gas Demand Signals China Import Boom: Energy Markets

China’s ranking as the biggest energy consumer and the least reliant on natural gas for power generation among the world’s leading economies is raising the prospect of an import boom as it seeks to cut pollution.

Demand in China may more than triple this decade, with consumption for electricity generation increasing more than fourfold, according to the International Energy Agency. Gas currently accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation’s power generation, compared with 23 percent in the U.S., the only country with a larger economy, and 48 percent in Russia, according to Bloomberg rankings based on World Bank data.