China Ramps Up LNG Imports to Record Levels Since Iran War, Driving Up Global Prices
State and private Chinese buyers are importing between 7 and 10 LNG cargoes per month to replace Qatari supply disrupted by the war. The 30-day moving average for deliveries has risen to 178,000 tons per day.
marketwatch.comChina's state-controlled energy companies and private buyers are importing the highest volumes of liquefied natural gas since the war in Iran began. The world's top LNG importer is preparing for peak summer demand and heat waves while replacing lost Qatari deliveries.
Chinese LNG importers are now taking between 7 and 10 cargoes per month to replace Qatar's deliveries, traders told Bloomberg on Monday.
Part of Qatar's LNG loaded on cargoes before the war began remains trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar halted liquefaction operations at its plants days after the war began. The Ras Laffan complex, the world's single biggest LNG facility, suffered damage from Iranian missile strikes in the middle of March.
QatarEnergy declared force majeure on deliveries and advised that repairs at the facilities could take up to five years. China's 30-day moving average for LNG deliveries has jumped to 178,000 tons per day, the highest since early February, according to Bloomberg estimates. Chinese buyers started purchasing more cargoes in the middle of April and have maintained a high rate of imports since then.
Import volumes are now close to the five-year average for this time of the year, per Bloomberg calculations. Prices of Asia's LNG and Europe's benchmark gas prices have jumped since the Iran war began as competition for alternative cargoes has intensified.
Asia has been winning the race to attract LNG cargoes, leaving Europe scrambling to refill gas storage sites that ended the heating season with stocks at multi-year lows.
Com reported the developments.
