China natural gas consumption in 2011 was 134 billion cubic meters, up 20.6% year on year. During the same year, the nation’s natural gas production totaled 101.9 billion cubic meters, a 7.9% increase from the previous year. Given that China imported more than 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, its external dependence of natural gas rose to 24%.

This year, China is poised to consume more than 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas. With greater imports, the external dependence will rise above 30%.