LNG

Australia said that liquefied natural gas demand is expected to increase by just under 2.5 percent in 2024, largely driven by the needs of customers in Asia-Pacific nations and by market dynamics in China.

China National Offshore Oil Corp., the Chinese energy major and with international and domestic LNG interests, has started production at its largest natural gas field in the central Bohai Sea offshore China.

Australian coal-seam gas explorer Elixir Energy has issued a quarterly activities report outlining progress on CSG projects in Queensland and Mongolia.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), the leading Chinese refiner and an importer of LNG from Australia, the US, Qatar and elsewhere and with expanding import facilities and storage, reported a drop in net profits of nearly 9 percent as a “rapid” first-quarter increase in natural gas demand was offset by oil refining costs and losses in chemicals.

PetroChina, the Chinese-listed and overseas unit of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. and an LNG project stakeholder in Canada and Mozambique, reported an annual increase in net profits while revenues declined on lower commodity prices.

Australia's Origin Energy, whose shareholders in December 2023 rejected a takeover by North American private equity firms, reported solid quarterly revenues from Australia-Pacific LNG in Queensland as domestic electricity and gas sales also rose in power markets.

QatarEnergy has signed a second partnership and supply agreement with China Petroleum and Chemicals Corp. (Sinopec) for Qatar’s North Field South (NFS) expansion project in the Arabian Gulf after Sinopec had previously taken a stake in the other Qatar expansion, the North Field East (NFE) joint venture.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. and French energy and utility company Engie have completed a yuan-settled liquefied natural gas trade through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, the third such LNG trade achieved by the Chinese.

The yuan transaction was completed on the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX), according to a statement from the trading platform.

The statement added that under the yuan-denominated agreement an LNG cargo of about 65,000 tonnes would be delivered in November.

China has recently emphasized its need where possible to settle oil and gas trades in yuan in an attempt to establish its currency internationally and to weaken the dollar's dominance in energy trading.

CNOOC had previously conducted China's first yuan-settled trade with French major TotalEnergies in March 2023 and Singapore's Pavilion Energy also settled such a deal in August.

Das Island cargo

The first 2023 yuan-settled LNG trade involved TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s trading unit as well as CNOOC.

The cargo from that transaction arrived in May 2023 and was unloaded at the main terminal in southern Guangdong province.

The shipment from Das Island in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was delivered by the “Mraweh” LNG carrier, a mid-sized vessel with 135,000 cubic metres of capacity.

CNOOC said at the time that the cargo delivery to the Dapeng terminal marked progress by China towards more yuan settlement of cross-border energy trade

CNOOC had purchased the Das Island cargo from TotalEnergies at the Shanghai Exchange.

China has raised the issue over the past several years of seeking more use of the Chinese currency with nations like Saudi Arabia and other energy exporters.

Analysts note that the Chinese economy would benefit hugely even if China only partly paid for its oil and gas in yuan.

China imported more than 500 million tonnes of crude oil last year and more than 100 million tonnes of natural gas by pipeline and as LNG and with the LNG portion amounting to 63.44 million tonnes.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French liquefied natural gas storage technology company, has received an order from China for five very large LNG-powered containerships to be constructed in South Korea.

China LNG Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company with assets along the value chain in mainland China, has said its billionaire Chief Executive Dr. Kan Che (Billy Albert) Kin, was stepping down while the company was also changing its name to better reflect its activities.