Gas imports surge over 10 months

China's natural gas imports surged 86.5 percent in the first 10 months of this year while production continued to climb steadily. Purchases totaled 25 billion cubic meters - 12.3 billion cubic meters of piped gas and 12.7 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas - between January and October, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. It said in October alone, imports doubled to 3.1 billion cubic meters. A total of 82.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, meanwhile, was produced nationwide during the 10-month period, an annual increase of 6.6 percent. Last month, production rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier to 8.2 billion cubic meters. Apparent consumption of natural gas jumped 20.4 percent year-on-year to 104.1 billion cubic meters during the first 10 months, with demand from fertilizer producers and power plants in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang remaining high.