*Whilst China’s LNG imports were up strongly for the first half of 2024 (MEES, 26 July), the total of 38.3mn tons remains well down on the record year of 2021 (1H21: 40.2mn tons). The key thing that has changed in the meantime is a surge in piped overland gas imports from Russia. Having started up at the end of 2019, deliveries via the Power of Siberia pipeline were around 4.6bcm for the first half of 2021. By 1H 2024 they had more than tripled to 15bcm, with MEES estimating a quarterly record of 8bcm for Q2 as China’s overall pipeline imports surged to a record 18.8 bcm (13.65mn tons).
*Meanwhile, 1H 2024 not only saw record pipeline imports, it also saw record Chinese domestic gas of 123.6bcm, up 6.2% year-on-year. As such, though China’s overall gas consumption rose by 9.5% year-on year to a record at 213.2bcm (154.5 tons) for 1H 2024, additional LNG was needed to meet just 35% of the 18.5bcm incremental volume (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 325 WORDS)
