Bloomberg: Russia's LNG exports to China hit record high in November

Exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China rose to a record high in November, Bloomberg reported.

According to the agency, the increase was driven by Chinese buyers’ willingness to accept the risk of Western sanctions in exchange for cheaper fuel.

Deliveries more than doubled year on year to 1.6 million tonnes, based on customs data released last weekend. This allowed Russia to overtake Australia and become China’s second-largest LNG supplier after Qatar.

Bloomberg noted that Russia had sharply discounted its LNG, making it the cheapest among 12 suppliers to China and about 10% below the average price. The fuel was sold at $9.85 per million British thermal units in November, according to customs data.

In August, China began importing cargoes from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. At the same time, it has not imported US LNG since February, partly because of trade tensions and weak demand.

• The Arctic LNG 2 plant was supposed to be one of the largest in Russia, with an annual production volume of almost 20 million tons. However due to Western sanctionsrelated to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the project has encountered difficulties, despite the start of deliveries in August 2024.
• China is likely trying to create a own shadow fleet for liquefied natural gas from Russia.