Qatar has exported 10 LNG cargoes to China this month, an unusually high number even for the world’s largest LNG exporter.
The boost in shipments from the Middle East comes as the pace from Australia slows, as a two-week outage at Chevron Corp’s giant Gorgon export facility roils trading patterns, likely to the benefit of Qatar.
The trade flow data puts China on track to import more than 20mn tonnes this year, about 13% of the country’s total annual gas consumption of about 197bn cubic metres, or 152mn tonnes.
China’s state oil and gas majors are set to import record levels of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this month, betting on robust demand during the cold winter months and helping lift Asian prices to their highest in nearly two years.
Aside from cold weather, November’s bigger-than-expected imports were due to growing use of long-term contracts by oil and gas majors and buoyant manufacturing levels, analysts said.
China National Petroleum Co (CNPC), the country’s top oil and gas group and the main shipper of Qatar LNG, is also shipping more of its contracted volumes in winter, especially in November, December and January, said Chen Zhu, managing director of SIA Energy.
