The CESI Beihai LNG carrier at the Beihai LNG terminal in China
China’s LNG fleet growth to change the global market
Chinese firms may be poised to move into trading, amid a burgeoning glut of supply and capacity
China’s two biggest LNG importers are working to expand their tanker fleets for shipping the fuel around the world, a construction drive that could increase their trading power on the global market but also put them in competition with the world's biggest energy traders. The investment to expand LNG shipping capacity by state-controlled CNOOC and PetroChina comes amid an acceleration in China’s LNG import growth this year, with purchases in the first five months rising by 18.1% year-on-year, to 32.42mt. China regained its former status as the world’s largest LNG importer last year, when volumes climbed by 12.6%, to 71.32mt, after a decline due to the pandemic. CNOOC, China’s biggest LNG impo
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