Some studies have suggested that consumption in the country could reach 250 bcm by 2020.

This is, therefore, a market with a huge potential for growth and one that is very attractive to exporters. One such country is Russia, which has already begin to sell LNG to Japan from its Sakhalin-2 terminal. China currently has four new plants under construction, with further projects in the study phase.

In February 2008, China began construction work on the second West-East gas pipeline. It will cross 14 provinces and cover a total distance of 9,100 km, with an annual capacity of 30 bcm. Given the rising levels of demand, the authorities are currently considering the construction of a third West-East gas pipeline which will start in the Xingjian region and probably end in Fujian province in the southeast of the country. Turkmenistan and Iran could be the starting points for this gas supply. The first (the Tapi gas pipeline) would pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second would also come through Pakistan, and a certain degree of political rapprochement between Pakistan and India during the course of the last year gave a further boost to this possible supply line. One example is the terminal at Dahej (Gujarat), which will double its capacity to 10 million tonnes by 2010. The terminal at Hazira, in the same eastern Indian state, has grown from an initial capacity of 2.5 million tonnes a year to 3.6 million. It has also been announced that another terminal is to be built at the port of Mundra, also in Gujarat state, which will be operative by 2013.