China's demand for liquefied natural gas may increase 48 percent in 2020, Wood Mackenzie Consultants said Tuesday in a report.

"LNG consumption in 2020 may reach 46 million tons a year, up from an earlier forecast of 31 million tons annually," said the Edinburgh-based energy consultants.

Last year, China consumed the equivalent of 2.25 billion tons of oil from sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power and hydropower, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The country's natural gas consumption jumped 22.1 percent over the past six month compared to the same time last year, fueled by its economic rebound after the global financial crisis, the National Development and Reform Commission said Monday on its website.

In 2030, the nation's gas demand may rise to 444 billion cubic meters a day from 9 billion cubic meters a day last year, with shale gas as the major growth energy source, said Wood Mackenzie.

Shale gas is an unconventional gas resource stored in shale rocks. It has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The nation is now showing interest in new technologies that can lead to the production of shale gas. The IEA estimates the country's shale gas reserves are about 26 trillion cubic meters.

Earlier this month, Sinopec announced it had launched a new division for the exploration of shale gas in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Sinopec started evaluating shale gas exploration in Sichuan Province in April, and its annual output may hit 2.5 billion cubic meters in five years, according to the China Business News.

Earlier reports said the oil giant had started shale gas explorations in Guizhou and Jiangsu provinces with the oil giant British Petroleum (BP), which can provide advanced technologies that China needed.