Russia’s shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China soared last month, consolidating Moscow’s role as the top energy supplier to the world’s second-largest economy even in the face of Western sanctions.
Imports of LNG from Russia surged 142.6 per cent, year on year, to 1.6 million tonnes, displacing Australia to become one of China’s top two biggest suppliers alongside Qatar last month, according to the latest customs data.
Russian LNG accounted for 23.5 per cent of China’s total shipments in November, more than doubling its 11 per cent share from a year prior.
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Meanwhile, Australian shipments of LNG continued to slide, falling 33.6 per cent by volume in November. The decline left Australia with just 21.1 per cent of China’s total LNG imports – a sharp retreat from a year ago, when it was the top supplier with a 36 per cent market share.
“The changes are very much a supply-side story,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
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Xu attributed the surge to the resumption in recent months of production at the Arctic LNG 2 project on the Gydan Peninsula, which directs its entire output to China. The widely sanctioned Russian project had halted operations last year.
“It’s also an indication of China defying Western sanctions against Russian oil trade,” Xu said.