LNG imports by the top three global buyers – Japan, Korea and China – all rose annually in Q1 2017 due to a combination of colder weather and growing appetite for the cooled fuel in China versus piped gas supplies from Central Asia.
As buyers have more supply sources at their disposal – especially from projects they invested in – Qatar has continued to lose ground in its key Asian markets, primarily to Australia. Japanese and Chinese importers are key stakeholders in several of the Australian projects to have come onstream in recent years. (CONTINUED - 1045 WORDS)
