China's Shenzhen Energy Group has signed a long-term agreement with the oil giant BP to purchase liquefied natural gas, aiming to lock the supply of gas-fired power generation, which is expected to surge in the world's second largest economy. The agreement is the first long-term international LNG contract of Shenzhen Energy and the first long-term contract between Shenzhen Energy and BP Singapore. The statement did not specify the details of the agreement, including the duration of the contract.

In order to meet the demand for energy security and stability in Guangdong Province and Shenzhen City, Shenzhen Energy Group is working hard to promote the construction of gas power plants. It is estimated that the total demand for natural gas of the Group will rise significantly around 2024 with the operation of natural gas power plants.

China imports a large amount of natural gas

Not long ago, Qatar Energy signed a 27 year agreement to provide 4 million tons of LNG per year to Sinopec. Qatar State Energy Corporation said in a statement that the contracted LNG will be supplied by the North Filing East LNG Expansion Project of Qatar Energy Corporation and delivered to Sinopec's terminals in China.

The current tight supply of natural gas has led to energy shortages in some regions of developing countries that rely on imported natural gas, especially Pakistan and Bangladesh. At the same time, the main growth markets of natural gas, such as India and China, will significantly reduce LNG imports in 2022.

According to the International Energy Agency, as Russia, one of the world's largest exporters, further reduces its supply to Europe, it is expected that the natural gas market will remain tight in 2023. The demand of China and Japan, the world's largest importers of LNG, has hardly changed in the first eight months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, while the demand of India and South Korea has shrunk. It is estimated that China's demand will grow by less than 2% in 2022, the lowest annual growth rate since the early 1990s. Keywords: engineering news, engineering construction

Rystad Energy said in a report that Chinese importers chose to look for suppliers in the medium to long term in the face of tight supply and increased price volatility. In 2022, the share of contract volume in China's LNG imports has risen to more than 80%, while in 2021 it will be about 60%. Japan and Thailand signed a preliminary agreement to share LNG during periods of severe shortages.Editor/XingWentao