China Halts LNG Sales to Foreign Buyers to Ensure Own Supply
- State-owned importers had been reselling LNG to Europe
- Sales had offered some relief to energy-starved buyers
An LNG terminal at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China told its state-owned gas importers to stop reselling LNG to energy-starved buyers in Europe and Asia in order to ensure its own supply for the winter heating season.
The National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planner, asked PetroChina Co., Sinopec and Cnooc Ltd. to keep winter cargoes for domestic use, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named as the information isn’t public. While the sales had offered some relief to European buyers, rapidly filling inventories and record-high shipping costs also reduced the appeal of reshipping fuel, they said.