China in October purchased the maximum volume of liquefied natural gas since the beginning of this year and surpassed Japan in terms of imports for the first time in 2022.

LNG shipments to China in October 2022 totaled 6.42 million tons (8.349 billion cubic meters) compared with 6.9 million tons a year earlier, Chinese customs said. Japan imported 5.09 million tons in the same month.

China surpassed Japan in terms of purchases for the first time in 2021 to become the world’s largest LNG consumer. However, since the beginning of 2022, new restrictive anti-COG measures have led to a decline in imports.

Pipeline gas deliveries in October totaled 5.059 bcm after 4.649 bcm in September (this is explained, among other things, by preventive maintenance work carried out in September ahead of the winter season). China buys pipeline gas from five suppliers: Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Myanmar.

Russia is a major supplier of LNG to the Chinese market. Sakhalin-2 (co-owners Gazprom (MCX:GAZP), Mitsui, Mitsubishi) and Yamal LNG (participants – NOVATEK (MCX:NVTK), TotalEnergies (NY: TotalEnergies (NY: TotalEnergies)) are producing large-capacity LNG in Russia. TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), China’s CNPC and SRF).