PetroChina gas flagship reports better-than-expected interim profit, eyes increased supply from Qatar, Russia
Kunlun Energy looks to offset impact of tariff imposed by China on US gas, as chairman says mainland will again face tight gas supply this winter
Kunlun Energy, the listed natural gas distribution flagship of oil and gas giant PetroChina, will be able to offset the impact of a tariff imposed by China on US gas through additional procurement from Qatar, Australia and Russia, its chairman said on Wednesday.
“We are not worried, as we have signed new gas procurement contracts … some are spot market deals, some medium and longer term contracts,” Ling Xiao told the media, when asked if the tariff – imposed as part of the ongoing US-China trade war – will cut throughput at three of its liquefied natural gas receiving terminals in Jiangsu, Tangshan and Dalian.
PetroChina to build more gas import terminals as Beijing aims to trim trade surplus with US
Our existing suppliers in Qatar, Australia and Russia are also interested in raising supply volumes to us
“Our existing suppliers in Qatar, Australia and Russia are also interested in raising supply volumes to us … we are also in talks to secure new long-term contracts to replace older, higher priced ones.”
Ling was speaking a day after Kunlun posted a better-than-expected 21.4 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit for the year’s first half. At 3.1 billion yuan (US$453.99 million), this figure represents 62.9 per cent of the 4.93 billion yuan full-year average forecast by 10 analysts polled by Bloomberg.
The completion of a long distance pipeline by PetroChina next year will also bring new supply from Russia’s far east to Kunlun, which has signed 11 agreements to distribute gas in markets along the pipeline so far this year.
The United States is most likely to resell the gas originally destined for China to Europe, whose procurement from the Middle East and Russia will fall, making room for China to buy from the latter, Ling said, adding: “The global gas market remains amply supplied.”