China is gaining LNG

Chinese firms account for about 15% of all contracts for which LNG deliveries will start before 2027.

China’s desire to sign new long-term LNG deals gives it the opportunity to control the global LNG market, writes Bloomberg. The agency states that Chinese buyers resell liquefied gas to those who offer the highest prices in Europe and Asia, actually taking a significant part of the supplies. According to an analysis by BloombergNEF, Chinese firms account for about 15% of all contracts under which LNG supplies will begin until 2027.

According to ENN Energy, which it published in its monthly report, in 2022 the country resold at least 5.5 million tons of LNG. This is approximately 6% of the total volume of the spot market. At the same time, analysts of four industry consulting companies Mackenzie, FGE, Energy Aspects and S&P Global Commodity Insight predict that this year oil imports to China could grow from 0.5 million to 1 million barrels per day, up to 11.8 million barrels per day, reversing the decline of the previous two years and exceeding the record of 2020 at 10.8 million barrels per day.