China poised to top Japan as world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas
Singapore — Beijing’s crackdown on pollution has put China on track to overtake Japan in 2018 as the world’s biggest importer of natural gas, used to replace dirtier coal. China — already the biggest importer of oil and coal — is the world’s third-biggest user of natural gas behind the US and Russia, but has to import about 40% of its total needs as domestic production can’t keep up with demand. Data compiled from the Thomson Reuters Eikon terminal indicates China’s 2017 imports of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) will top 67-million tonnes, up by more than a quarter from a year earlier. LNG imports alone surged more than 50%. The data, which includes LNG tanker arrivals to China and pipeline monthly import flow estimates, is preliminary as December figures are not yet available. China still lags Japan, with gas annual imports of about 83.5-million tonnes, all as LNG, but its overall gas imports topped Japan’s in September and again in November, government data and shipp...
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