China has stopped sales of LNG to Europe to make sure its own households have enough gas for the winter, report says

Market Insider ^ | 10/17/22

[EBH]

China told state-owned natural gas importers like Sinopec and CNOOC to halt LNG sales to Europe, per Bloomberg.

The order to halt resales comes as Beijing looks to protect domestic gas supplies for the winter.

China has been a crucial supplier of gas to Europe as the region faces a Russia-driven energy crisis.

Beijing has reportedly told state-owned natural gas importers to halt resales of cargoes to buyers in Europe and Asia, to make sure China has enough supply for domestic needs this winter.

The National Development and Reform Commission has spoken to Chinese energy giants PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC to ask them to stop the shipments of liquefied natural gas, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

An economic slowdown in China after Beijing imposed a strict zero-COVID policy dampened local demand for gas, leaving its importers with a surplus of natural gas that they resold to Europe and elsewhere.

Since the Ukraine invasion, China has been snapping up Russian fuel on the cheap, after sanctions and boycotts hit the Western market. At one point, China managed to get a 50% discount on LNG supply from Russia's Sakhalin 2 export plant.

But with European gas inventories quickly filling up and shipping costs at record highs, the appeal of the LNG resales dimmed, per Bloomberg.

Another potential trigger for the move were forecasts for a small deficit in China's gas supply, the report said, as the country looks to avert its own potential energy crunch during winter's cold months.

Countries like Germany are on track to hit their winter gas inventory targets, after appealing for consumers to cut usage and scrambling to secure alternative supplies to those cut off by Russia.

[mikelets456]

“Cold, dark winter...”

[hinckley buzzard]

Bet EU wasn’t expecting this. But they will have Biden to the rescue. America may freeze so the socialists of Europe can live through the winter in comfort.

[Tell It Right]

Two tips for EU:

1 - drill baby drill
2 - mine baby mine

[House Atreides]

“… Since the Ukraine invasion, China has been snapping up Russian fuel on the cheap, after sanctions and boycotts hit the Western market. …”

************************************************************

“On the cheap” is RELATIVE. Yes, less than others are paying at market rates. But no, their cost is a lot higher than before the “sanctions”.

[canuck_conservative]

But with European gas inventories quickly filling up ...

and

Countries like Germany are on track to hit their winter gas inventory targets ...

[mewzilla]

Meanwhile, from 2 weeks ago...

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-white-house-rules-out-ban-natural-gas-exports-this-winter-2022-10-04/

[WMarshal]

Poor Germany. It will only be able to retrieve 70% of the natural gas that it stuck in its underground storage and it will come out much more slowly than it went in the ground. It is going to be a bad winter.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Will the USA follow suit? There’s another article this morning about electricity shortages in New England caused by natural gas shipments to Europe.

[canuck_conservative]

you’re making that up

there’s zero proof of that

[NorseViking]

You have no idea what euro storage is. Itbis supposed to cover peak consumption on some days, not to be the main source of consumption.

[Jeff Chandler]

[ifinnegan]

1 - drill baby drill
2 - mine baby mine

—

Can’t have that. Look how they’ve gone full deep state on Liz Truss for this.

[Renfrew]

China is by far the world’s largest importer of natural gas and is going to be the big loser in all of this.

Previously most of the Middle East’s LNG went east, but Europe needs to replace the Russian supplies. Every LNG tanker leaving Qatar is now subject to a bidding war between China and Germany.

China is getting much less gas and paying far more for what it is getting.

[canuck_conservative]

Since you got all the answers, how many of your Russian soldiers have been killed so far?

20-25,000, correct?

[NorseViking]

Why do you care? I think these numbers are fantastic.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I wonder who has the Belgian wood chip franchise?

[MotorCityBuck]

Looks like China has Russia’s back. Oh yea. Cant forget OPEC. Lets see who haven’t we alienated over this fight yet?
Brilliant!

[qaz123]

You wanna dance, you gotta pay the band.

The government leaders in Europe would rather let their people freeze and die than have to admit that they’ve been propping one of the most corrupt governments on the planet.

Winter is going to come fast and Europe is going to have to make a decision: Zelensky or its people.

[mikelets456]

I’ve heard this but also heard it’s impossible as businesses, manufacturing, homes, etc will not be able to share what’s allotted. There will be a portion of society that will be without it...