Russian liquefied natural gas exports to China rose to a record high in November, as buyers, ignoring the risk of Western sanctions, sought access to cheaper fuel, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
Shipments of supercooled gas from Russia more than doubled compared to the previous year to 1.6 million metric tons last month, customs data released over the weekend showed. This jump allowed Russia to overtake Australia, becoming China's largest supplier after Qatar.
Russia turned to Asia's largest gas market to offset reduced supplies to Europe, which was Moscow's largest buyer for decades before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company had to lower prices to increase its attractiveness - its LNG was the cheapest among 12 suppliers to China and about 10% lower than the average, at $9.85 per million British thermal units in November, according to customs data.
Total imports rose year-on-year for the first time in over a year after weak demand eased requirements.
In August, China began importing batches from the sanctioned Russian plant "Arctic LNG-2" through its remote terminal in Beihai. Nevertheless, the Russian facility had to cut production as winter ice complicates exports.
China has not imported American LNG since February, partly due to trade conflicts and weak demand. Large domestic companies are also increasingly diversifying their sources, trying to sell contract volumes on global markets, which is easier for American contracts, which tend not to have destination clauses, the publication writes.