BEIJING: Chinese energy companies boosted natural gas buying to a record in September as they try to avoid winter shortages that plagued parts of the country last year. China imported 5.73 million metric tons of the fuel in in September, the General Administration of Customs said Thursday. That’s up more than 70 percent from both August and the same month last year. The customs office doesn’t publish separate liquefied natural gas imports and pipeline figures until later this month.
“Natural gas imports will likely continue to rise throughout the winter until at least March next year,” Tian Miao, an analyst with policy researcher North Square Blue Oak Ltd., said by phone. “Peak demand season will soon arrive and suppliers will try to avoid the kind of shortage we saw last year.”
China’s gas-buying binge in September comes as strong winter demand has driven up the price of spot LNG near Singapore to the highest level since January. Last winter, northern China was hit by the lowest temperatures in 64 years and heavy use forced Beijing to suspend gas supplies to some industrial users and forced some public buildings to heat only to 14 degrees Celsius (57 Fahrenheit).
