LNG projects stakeholder PetroChina reports increased profits and plans to boost oil and gas activities
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.
China’s LNG imports in Jan-Feb soar to records as prices decline and economy shows signs of recovery
Chinese liquefied natural gas imports for the two-month January-February 2024 period soared by more than 23 percent from a year earlier as prices declined and demand grew during a time that encompassed the Lunar New Year holidays in China.
Chinese LNG trading, supply and city-gas company Beijing Gas Blue Sky gives prices and market outlook
Beijing Gas Blue Sky Holdings, a Chinese natural gas provider and operator focusing on the midstream and downstream, has presented an overview of the current LNG market and prices in China and the effects of Russia’s Ukraine invasion and that of the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the Chinese for longer.
Chinese LNG imports decline though rebound expected with increase in prices for North Asian spot cargoes
Chinese liquefied natural gas imports declined slightly last month with most cargoes coming from Australia and Qatar while pipeline gas imports edged higher with energy demand improving for the needs of power and industry.
Deliveries of cargoes to China’s regasification terminals in September amounted to 5.69 million tonnes, or 84 cargoes, a drop of 2.8 percent on the 5.90MT, or 87 cargoes, received in September 2022, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.
Deliveries to China in August 2023 came to 6.32MT, an increase of almost 34 percent compared with 4.72MT in August 2022.
While supplies to China were weak for many months in 2022 because of Covid-19 lockdowns in the main cities, they began to rebound in September 2022 ahead of the winter heating season.
Network
China’s main LNG suppliers to its network of 25 import terminals are Australia, Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the US and the Yamal plant in Arctic Russia.
The US no longer has China as a preferred destination for now with European countries taking more cargoes in 2023 since the ending of Nord Stream pipeline deliveries to Germany and the European Union amid Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
Most recently the Netherlands became the latest European country to overtake China in the overall list of recipients of US LNG.
China has now dropped to seventh place from third place last year and has been overtaken by the UK, Spain and France for uS cargoes as well as the Netherlands.
However, more winter volumes should point at China in the months ahead as the Japan-Korea Marker price for spot cargoes hit $17.305 per million British thermal units and was seen rising further in a tight market.
The September Chinese energy data also showed that pipeline natural gas imports by China increased slightly to 4.25MT from 4.21MT in September 2022.
The “Power of Siberia” pipeline from Russia is the main supplier. It runs for 3,000km (1,865 miles) through Siberia and into northeast China and a “Power of Siberia II” pipeline is being planned to deliver gas to China via Mongolia.
Additional pipelines inside China carry the gas for a further 2,110km through eight Chinese provinces in the north to Shanghai in eastern China.
Gas supply from the “Power of Siberia” pipeline reached just over 5 billion cubic metres in 2020, then 10.4 Bcm in 2021 and rose to 15 Bcm in 2022.
The volumes of Russian pipeline gas deliveries to China in 2023 are expected to reach around 22 Bcm or more.
Chinese LNG imports surge by over 34 percent from low base last year because of slowdown and Covid measures
Chinese liquefied natural gas imports increased by more than 34 percent last month with additional cargoes pointing at North Asia from the US, Qatar and Australia and with the percentage boosted by the much lower level of deliveries reported in August 2022 because of Covid-19 lockdowns in the main cities of China.
Deliveries of LNG to China’s growing network of import terminals amounted to 6.32 million tonnes, or 93 cargoes, in August 2023 compared with 4.72MT, or 70 cargoes, in August 2022, an increase of 34.1 percent, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.
Imports to Chinese network of 25 regasification terminals in the January-to-August period of 2023 came to 45.51MT, up by 14.5 percent from the 40.64MT reported in the first eight months of 2022.
Main suppliers
China’s main LNG suppliers are Australia, Qatar, the US, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Yamal plant in Arctic Russia.
Chinese energy imports in August from Russia, mostly oil and gas, increased 13.3 percent from a year earlier to $11.52 billion.
China also receives varying volumes of pipeline gas through links from the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, as well as from Russia as part of Gazprom's “Power of Siberia” project.
The “Power of Siberia” pipeline runs for 3,000km (1,865 miles) through Siberia and into northeast China and a “Power of Siberia II” pipeline is being planned to deliver gas to China via Mongolia.
Additional pipelines inside China carry the gas for a further 2,110km through eight Chinese provinces in the north to Shanghai in eastern China.
Gas supply from the “Power of Siberia” pipeline reached just over 5 billion cubic metres in 2020, then 10.4 Bcm in 2021 and rose to 15 Bcm in 2022.
The volumes of Russian pipeline gas deliveries to China in 2023 are expected to reach around 22 Bcm.
Crude oil
China's crude oil production, processing and imports registered strong expansion in August, the Chinese data showed.
The country produced 17.47MT of its own crude oil last month, up 3.1 percent year on year.
China's total imports of crude oil stood at 52.8MT, a jump fo 30.9 percent from August 2022.
The data also shows that the country processed 64.69MT of crude oil at refineries in the same period, an increase of 19.6 percent.
China had imported an average of 11.4 million barrels of crude oil per day in the first half of 2023, a 12 percent increase from 2022’s annual average of 10.2 million barrels a day.
The Chinese sourced much of the additional crude oil it imported in the first half from Russia, Iran, Brazil and the US.
Compared with 2022 averages, China’s imports from Russia increased by 23 percent (400,000 b/d), from Saudi Arabia by 7 percent (130,000 b/d) and from Brazil by 49 percent (250,000 b/d).
European benchmark LNG prices drop to 26-month lows as margin widens with North Asian spot cargo values
Asian liquefied natural gas spot prices edged lower for August while the European Union wholesale gas benchmark plunged on the week to a 26-month low under $9 per million British thermal units - after being at $53 per MMBtu a year ago - as gas demand dropped on the Continent and EU gas storage was filling up.
Chinese LNG imports jump 30 percent as more regasification comes on line in Hong Kong and the mainland
Chinese liquefied natural gas imports increased last month by 30 percent as energy demand recovered because of lower prices and more regasification capacity has come on line, including in Hong Kong.
Chinese major Sinopec posts fall in net profits on weak domestic natural gas and petrochemicals markets
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), one of the world’s top 10 oil and gas companies and a significant liquefied natural gas importer to back up its refining and petrochemical activities, reported a 21 percent increase in annual revenues but net profits dropped by almost the same amount on weak domestic demand.
Australia’s Elixir Energy plans flow test in Mongolia after nation’s first flare-ignition from commercial gas
Elixir Energy Ltd, the Australian-listed exploration and production company, said it aimed to demonstrate early in the New Year a commercial flow-rate from its pilot Nomgon coalbed methane (CBM) project located in the south of Mongolia near the Chinese border.
Chinese LNG imports tumble in month by 29 percent but shipments from Russia rise along with pipeline gas
Chinese liquefied natural gas imports in August 2022 to its network of 22 regasification terminals tumbled by 29 percent because of a mixed economic recovery, high spot prices and more pipeline natural gas imports.
