Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the country produced 16.5 Bcm of natural gas in October. That represents a 5.1% increase from September, rebounding from a 1.3% month-on-month decline in September. Compared to a year earlier, last month’s output was up 0.5%. For the first ten months of 2021, China’s gas production totalled 168.4 Bcm, increasing by 9.4% year-on-year. State-owned producers continued to boost their natural gas output last month to ensure supply in the peak winter season.
According to a local media report, Sinopec increased gas output from the Puguang field in Sichuan province by around 1.21 million cubic metres per day (Mcmd) to 17.5 Mcmd since October. The company also boosted production from the Fuling shale gas field in Chongqing by 480,000 cmd this month to nearly 20 Mcmd.
Meanwhile, CNOOC in October evacuated all workers and halted operations at its Lingshui 17-2 deepwater gas field in the South China Sea because of Typhoon Kompasu. This is expected to have affected the field’s gas production to a certain extent last month. The field, which reached full operations in September, is estimated to produce around 3 Bcm/year of gas.
