PetroChina to broaden LNG import sources amid US-China trade war, posts US$4 billion profit
- Company posts 3.6 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit, in line with analysts’ expectations
- PetroChina is also aiming for more domestic output from unconventional sources, chairman says
China will continue to diversify where it imports natural gas from amid its protracted trade war with the United States, which will not affect the country’s demand for cleaner burning fuel, PetroChina’s president said on Thursday.
The state-backed company, China’s largest gas importer as well as its largest oil and gas producer, is looking to invest in more gas projects in countries covered by Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, Hou Qijun said.
“The US, as a major oil and gas producer, is highly complementary with China – a big energy consumer,” he said on Thursday after PetroChina posted a 3.6 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to 28.4 billion yuan (US$3.97 billion) for the year’s first half, meeting analysts’ expectations.
“Had the trade war not been there, the US would have been a very promising gas supply growth source for China,” he said.
“China will pursue even greater diversification of its gas import sources. As some 40 nations are expected to have the capacity to export liquefied natural gas in the future, barriers to US LNG export to China will not affect our diversification strategy, nor China’s gas demand.”
PetroChina sources gas from Australia, Qatar, Canada, as well as the US. But with the escalation in the trade war, Beijing imposed a 10 per cent tariff on US LNG last September, and raised it to 25 per cent in June this year.