CHINA DATA: Pipeline gas imports fall 17% on month in October

China’s pipeline natural gas imports declined to 3.21 million mt in October, down 17.2% from the record high of 3.87 million mt in September, according to data released Nov. 21 by the General Administration of Customs.

Pipeline gas imports from Russia and Turkmenistan saw month-on-month declines of 26.5% and 18.2%, respectively, in October, according to the data.

The October pipeline gas imports were low due to a delay in restoring gas flows after maintenance at the Power of Siberia pipeline in September, market sources said.

Russia’s Gazprom suspended natural gas supplies via the Power of Siberia pipeline to China over Sept. 22-29 due to a scheduled maintenance.

Despite a retreat in pipeline gas imports in the previous month, market sources expect imports to rebound in coming months with more pipeline gas being secured to guarantee winter supply.

China’s state-owned PetroChina has signed an agreement with an unidentified oil and gas company in Central Asia to buy a batch of natural gas for delivery over October-March via the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline.

PetroChina will also increase natural gas imports from Russia via the Power of Siberia pipeline to 43 million cu m/d by end-2021, from 28 million cu m/day, to help meet China’s demand during the Winter Olympics.

The lower price of imported pipeline gas compared with imported LNG is also expected to encourage China’s piped gas imports.

The average price of pipeline gas imported by China was estimated at $5.69/MMBtu in October, up slightly from $5.63/MMBtu in the previous month. Meanwhile, the average price of imported LNG, comprising both term and spot cargoes, was estimated at $12.83/MMBtu in October, up 10% month on month, and 125.5% higher than the price of imported pipeline gas, S&P Global Platts calculations based on customs data showed.

China imported 6.17 million mt of LNG in October, down 8.6% month on month but up 22.9% year on year, customs data showed.

China’s LNG imports from several major suppliers, including Australia, US, Qatar, Malaysia and Russia all saw a month-on-month decline of around 10%-30% in October, except for imports from Indonesia which rose 77% from September, according to customs data.
Source: Platts