Top Chinese oil and gas producer China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) plans to step up sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and encourage use of LNG-powered vehicles in the next three years, in line with a government push for cleaner energy.

CNPC plans to sell 11.5 billion cubic metres or around 9 million tonnes of LNG to domestic users by the end of 2015, a company newspaper said on Tuesday.

It aims to promote the use of LNG in at least 200,000 vehicles by the end of 2015, the China Petroleum Daily reported.

China had nearly 1.5 million gas-powered vehicles at the end of last year, the paper said, most of which use compressed natural gas.

CNPC, which operates its gas business via PetroChina and Kunlun Energy, last year started up its two main LNG receiving terminals with total annual capacity of 6.5 million tonnes.

It has also started a number of small-scale gas liquefaction plants to chill and truck to users stranded gas in some Chinese fields considered too small for large-scale pipeline transport.

China is converting some buses and trucks, river fleets and fishing boats to burn cheaper and cleaner LNG, despite the lack of consistent design and technological standards.