Liquefied natural gas is expected to become a big part of China-U.S. trade once the dispute is resolved between the two countries, a senior executive from China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) said Wednesday.
LNG will also continue to dominate China’s natural gas imports, having accounted for 60% of its gas imports in 2018, said Cnooc vice president Li Hui, on the sidelines of the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai, Reuters reported.
Cnooc currently is China’s largest investor in LNG facilities and its largest buyer of the super-cold fuel, Kallanish Energy understands.
China has since 2017 become the world’s second-largest LNG importer after Japan, as gas demand surges under a government push to switch users from coal to cleaner burning natural gas.
If the trade war between the U.S. and China is resolved, China could increase U.S. LNG, crude oil and soybean purchases to help narrow Washington’s trade deficit with Beijing, Reuters reported.
Sinopec, China’s No.2 oil and gas firm, is ready to sign a 20-year LNG supply agreement worth billions of dollars with Cheniere Energy once the two countries end their trade dispute, numerous media have reported.
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