Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports to China have grown by 25% annually over the last four years according to the latest analysis from Thomson Reuters Point Carbon.
In addition, the last two months (December 2013 and January 2014) reveal a dramatic increase in imports, up 80% from previous months. Furthermore, it looks like China will be a top LNG importer by 2018-20, with volumes close to the current import levels for Japan, which, as the world’s largest LNG consumer, had LNG imports of 118bcm in terms of natural gas in 2013.
Thomson Reuters Point Carbon has developed three forecasts for the growth of China LNG ranging from 52 to 110bcm for the year 2018. All three lead to the conclusion that China will contribute significantly to tight supply/demand balances in the global LNG market over the years to come.
Several new LNG import terminals are under construction and even more are planned and approved. Adding these to the existing capacity means Thomson Reuters Point Carbon expects LNG import capacity to reach about 100bcm /year by 2018 or even before.
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