Top LNG importer China re-selling more cargoes, eyes trading gains

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) — China, the world’s top importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is increasingly re-selling some of the super-chilled fuel to other Asian buyers as it looks to profit from price swings.

Armed with a growing portfolio of long-term supply deals recently struck with Qatar and U.S. exporters, as well as extensive terminal capacity, Chinese companies led by state giant PetroChina are more actively trading LNG, but still lag far behind global majors such as BP, Shell and TotalEnergies.

Chinese customs data shows that China reloaded 617,000 metric tons of imported LNG during the first nine months of this year, compared with 576,000 tons in all of 2022, 26,000 tons in 2021 and 59,000 tons in 2020.

China’s LNG sales have increased along with rising Asian demand after the disruption in Russian exports to Europe from the Ukraine war sparked price volatility and tightened supplies globally.

Asia spot prices soared to record highs of $70 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last year. They have since eased to $17/mmBtu, encouraging demand from Asian buyers, but are still above single-digit levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.