Storage capacity is set to expand further

China has been expanding its underground gas storage facilities in an attempt to shift away from coal and oil, and to avoid a repeat of the gas shortage during cold snaps last winter.

The country's 25 underground gas storage facilities, which are designed to store 41.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, now only have a working storage capacity of 18 billion cubic meters.

It is far from enough to hedge against shortages of the natural gas supply, according to Guo Jiaofeng of the Development Research Center of the State Council.