China will raise imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 67 million tons until 2025 from the current 18 million tons, Gazprom Marketing & Trading Executive Director Medan Abdullah said in an interview with PRIME.

China has a particular interest in LNG because of its need to improve the environmental situation, Abdullah said. That is why the company is paying much attention to the development of the LNG business in spite of a natural gas supply contract recently signed by its parent company Gazprom and CNPC, he said.

The global LNG market will be rising by 5% annually as some countries are striving to diversify gas supplies, including the Asian ones which do not have large pipeline networks, amid a stable growth of fuel prices, Abdullah said.

Natural gas consumption in Asian countries will grow to 1.15 trillion cubic meters by 2030 from 684 billion cubic meters in 2012, Abdullah also said.

The global natural gas demand will be annually increasing by 2%, he said. Natural gas consumption in the world will rise to 4.6 trillion cubic meters by 2030 from 3.6 trillion cubic meters in 2012, he added.