Natural gas supplies to exceed 360 billion cubic meters by 2020

China's natural gas supplies will exceed 360 billion cubic meters by 2020, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Conventional natural gas is expected to see an increase of proven geological reserves by 3 trillion cu m by 2020. And, shale gas will grow by 1 trillion cu m, the NDRC said on Thursday. The country will encourage more qualified enterprises to get involved in natural gas imports based on the market-oriented principles, said the NDRC.

An analyst said stable supplies and relatively well-developed infrastructure have helped boost the fast growth of the natural gas sector, which now accounts for about 7 percent of China's energy production, with a national target to exceed 10 percent by 2020.