More Chinese firms enter global LNG market

Niche buyers in China are starting to make waves in the global LNG market, spurred by reforms that have opened up the country’s vast pipeline network

Novatek, Russia’s top LNG producer, has signed a 15-year sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to supply China’s state-owned Shenergy Group with more than 3mn t/yr from the Arctic LNG 2 project. The SPA is Shenergy’s second in the past six months after the company—which has a monopoly on supplying gas and power in China’s financial hub of Shanghai—inked a 15-year deal with the UK’s Centrica for 0.5mn t/yr starting in 2024. The latest deal continues a trend that began last year in which smaller players—mostly city gas distributors backed by local authorities—have risen to prominence in China’s LNG supply deals. Provincial players such as Shenergy signed more LNG deals with international companie