Reuters reports that China is expanding its influence in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, with Chinese traders establishing new or expanded trading desks in Singapore and London. This allows China to compete directly with leading LNG trading companies such as Shell, British Petroleum (BP), Total Energies, and Norwegian state-owned Equinor.
Despite securing longer-term supplies of super-cooled fuel, China's trade volume continues to expand. Since last year, these deals have ballooned to around 40 million tons per year, with a 50% increase in trade value.
According to Reuters, more than ten Chinese energy trading companies are hiring more traders or expanding their trading departments, while the state-owned CNOOC plans to open an office in London. CNOOC said this month that Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project, in which it owns a 10% stake, is scheduled to start production by the end of this year as planned.
Toby Copson, Global Head of LNG Trading at Trident, told Reuters that we will see Chinese firms transform from being solely net importers to becoming more involved in both international and domestic trade.
The core motive for expanding trade appears to be energy security, which has always been a focal point of China's energy policy. Zhang Yaoyu, Global Head of International LNG Trading at PetroChina, stated that supply security remains the core of our business activities. Trading capability is one of the means to help us better navigate market fluctuations.
Reuters notes that due to the expansion of China's natural gas trade, the total volume of LNG contracts signed by Chinese traders is expected to reach 100 million tons per year by 2026.
