* Gas demand, import growth to drop, but remain in double digits * 2018 oil demand growth at 4.6 pct, down from 5.9 pct in 2017 * Net diesel exports to rise 47 pct, gasoline exports by 23 pct (Adds details on fuel surplus, comment, table, byline) By Muyu Xu and Chen Aizhu BEIJING, Jan 16 (Reuters) - China's natural gas consumption will rise by 10 percent and imports by 13.4 percent in 2018, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) forecast on Tuesday, boosted by a steady push to replace coal with the cleaner-burning fuel to curb air pollution.
China's gas demand will reach 258.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year and total natural gas imports will grow to 105 billion cubic metres (bcm), CNPC said in its annual outlook released by the state oil giant's research institute.
While urban and industrial users will continue to drive the growth in use of natural gas, this year's increase is expected to ease from last year's 17 percent, CNPC said.
The growth in gas imports is also down from a more robust 27 percent in 2017.
"Seasonal shortages will persist this year due to the coal-to-gas push and lagging constructions of storage ... but due to slower economic growth, demand from the steel, glass and ceramics industries will fall," CNPC said.
CNPC's demand forecast for natural gas was in line with Wood Mackenzie's estimate pegging growth this year at 11 percent due to the government being more conservative with gasification than last year, said Wang Wen, an analyst with the consultancy.
The world's third-largest gas consumer has been hit by a supply crunch this winter as the government's massive gasification effort led to demand surges that were too fast for the current state of supplies and infrastructure.
CNPC also said China's apparent oil demand will expand by 4.6 percent this year to 615 million tonnes, or 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd). That compares with oil demand growth of 5.9 percent for last year.
CNPC also said it expects refining capacity at the country's independent refineries to hit 230 million tonnes a year (4.6 million bpd) by 2020, accounting for just over a quarter of China's total installed oil processing capacity.
BUMPER FUEL EXPORTS SEEN CNPC also expected China's net diesel exports this year to rise 47 percent to 23.8 million tonnes and gasoline by 23 percent to 12.8 million tonnes, as a result of a swelling surplus in refining capacity and fuel production.
Dominant state refiners have been harried since 2016 by growing competition from more than 30 independent refiners that Beijing has allowed to process imported crude oil, prompting fuel exports to reach for record highs.