(Reuters) – China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) is targeting a 4.2% rise in the country’s natural gas production this year to 214 billion cubic metres (bcm), according to its annual energy industry guide published on Tuesday.
The world’s top energy user and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases sees natural gas as a key bridging fuel on the way to eventually reaching its carbon-neutral goal by 2060.
Natural gas production grew 8.2% last year to 205.3 bcm, the NEA has reported.
The agency, which last week published an energy industry guide for the next five years, also set national power generation at 9.07 trillion kilowatt hours for this year, up almost 12% from last year.
Of the total, NEA is aiming for wind and solar to supply a combined share of 12.2%, up from 11% last year.
China meanwhile continues to reduce the proportion of coal used, aiming for non-fossil fuel energy to account for 17.3% of total energy use this year, up from 16% in 2020.
Crude oil production is targeting around 200 million tonnes, or 4 million barrels per day, a touch higher than last year’s 1.99 million tonnes.
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
