MORE than a dozen Chinese provinces and cities have increased residential natural gas prices since late last month after the nation’s top economic planner loosened market controls.

Hebei and Hubei provinces, as well as the city of Xi’an, are among jurisdictions that have approved price hikes of as much as 0.4 yuan (US$0.06) per cubic meter, according to local adjustment plans.

Prices paid by households could be revised as often as every six months under the plans. They had previously been kept unchanged for years in many locations.

The National Development and Reform Commission issued a decision paper to local governments and gas suppliers in mid-June allowing them to adjust prices to reflect fluctuations in their fuel costs, according to people familiar with the change.

The new system will still provide protections against sharp jumps for consumers, said the people.

The move comes after local gas utilities had to bear the brunt of soaring costs for imported gas last year following Russian’s war in Ukraine. It’s also evidence that China is continuing a slow-and-steady approach to gradually introducing more market-based rules to its highly regulated energy system.

Asian liquefied natural gas futures jumped from as low as US$2 per million British thermal units (BTUs) in 2020 to as high as US$70 last August. They’ve since retreated, and settled at US$10.89 per million BTU on Friday. (SD-Agencies)