OREANDA-NEWS.  May 06, 2013. A Chinese energy expert on the sidelines of a professional conference in Houston said that liquefied natural gas industry will see promising development both in China and other countries as natural gas is the only clean energy compared with oil and coal. Mr Wang Ye deputy chairman of China LNG Association, who is heading a 100-plus Chinese delegation to the 17th International Conference and Exhibition on liquefied natural gas, or LNG,said that of the three most important energy resources, both coal and oil have met their development bottleneck, but natural gas has great potential.

The 4 days event, believed to be the largest global gas event this year, has attracted major industry players, decision makers as well as experts to discuss the status quo and prospects of the LNG industry. Mr Wang said that compared with oil, the cheaper price of natural gas has made many countries shift from oil to the latter in recent years.Another factor that makes natural gas a preferred choice is that it is the only clean energy among the three primary energy resources. He said that as nations seek to be low-carbon and environment friendly, natural gas is the most likely choice for many countries.

He added that "China's LNG imports just rose to the fifth place in the world, lagging far behind Japan and South Korea. The use of LNG, both civilian use and industrial use, is at the beginning stage and has a long way to go." He said that "Natural gas is an ideal substitute for coal," Wang said. "It is important to China's energy future, and LNG is key to the development of China's natural gas industry."

He further added that on the world arena, production of natural gas has been steadily increasing over the past years, which indicates growing interest in the clean energy around the world.