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
Also in this section
17 January 2025
Supply glut or supply deficit are both plausible outlooks, with tariffs and sanctions among the key risks that could swing the pendulum
17 January 2025
European Commission is on its way to meeting clean energy goals, but energy security concerns and higher costs may give it second thoughts
17 January 2025
The CEO of QatarEnergy has highlighted the potential impact a new EU directive could have on energy exports to the continent
16 January 2025
The government’s resource nationalism is aggravating the NOC’s debt position and could yet worsen if also tasked with the decarbonisation shift
