China’s imports of Russian crude may have dipped for July (MEES, 16 August), but those of Russian gas are going from strength to strength. Official Chinese data indicates overall gas imports of 10.86mn tons (15.0bcm) for July. Outside of the peak winter months of December and January this is the second highest figure ever after May this year.
With figures from data intelligence firm Kpler showing relatively modest LNG imports of 5.91mn tons for July – the second lowest figure this year after June’s 5.62mn tons – this implies that July saw record monthly overland volumes of 4.95mn tons (6.83bcm). The key gains here have come from Russia which supplied China with an annual record of 22.7bcm of piped gas for 2023 and is on pace to supply a new record 30bcm this year (MEES, 26 July). (CONTINUED - 208 WORDS)
