China"s diversified gas import sources and the prevalence of long-term contracts are likely to put the brakes on surging gas prices in the country, experts said.

Driven by growing demand, economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and loose US monetary policy, Asian liquefied natural gas or LNG prices, natural gas futures in the US and European natural gas prices have all been rising aggressively since June.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, LNG prices rose 10.2 percent in August year-on-year, reaching 5,402 yuan ($837) per metric ton. The LNG composite price was around 2,500 yuan per ton last year.

National average delivered LNG prices in China rose 60 percent in August compared to March, according to figures released by BloombergNEF.

Inflated global prices for natural gas, mostly for spot LNG, lifted domestic gas prices and costs for many Chinese industries during the past few months. However, natural gas prices are unlikely to continue surging in the months to come as LNG spot prices will have little room for further growth, said Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute.

While rising LNG spot prices in major global consumption markets will curb supplies in China and push up prices, much of the LNG supply is purchased under long-term contracts and is less likely to be affected by current volatile spot prices, Luo said.

"China is unlikely to face a serious impact in natural gas as China"s LNG import sources are diversified, and the country"s numerous major gas pipelines are not operating at full capacity yet, including those that link Russia, Myanmar and Central Asian countries, all of which could help balance the growing cost of LNG imports in China when necessary," he said.

Liu Yijun, a professor at the China University of Petroleum, said that if the domestic economic trend continues and the global political environment remains stable, oil and gas prices won"t be subject to too many fluctuations.

China"s natural gas imports reached 59.82 million tons in the first half, up 23.8 percent year-on-year with much of the increase coming from LNG. The import value rose 9.5 percent to 136 billion yuan and the average price of LNG imports rose 39 percent year-on-year, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

The blistering growth of the country"s LNG imports over the first six months highlighted the importance of the fuel in the country"s energy mix amid efforts by China to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

An analyst believes while natural gas does not have too many advantages in terms of reserves compared with coal, and is not as clean as new energy including solar and wind power－which puts it in an awkward position in the energy mix－the "bridging role" of the super-chilled fuel has a more important role than ever with the government aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Gas is expected to play a positive role in decarbonization due to lower emissions compared to coal, said Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF.