Moscow, September 21 - Neftegaz.RU. According to the Chinese General Customs Administration, in the 1st 8 months of the year, China spent some $837.32 million on Russian gas, which is a 98.94% increase compared to the corresponding period last year, RT reported.
According to the ministry, Turkmenistan continues to be China’s top supplier of natural gas, delivering 15.95 million tons of gas for $4.2 billion this year.
Russia is in 2nd place in terms of supply volume, followed by Kazakhstan with 3.17 million tons for $723 million, and Myanmar with 2.01 million tons for $922 million.
China’s leading supplier of LNG in January-August was Australia (20.52 million tons for $8.47 billion), followed by Qatar, Malaysia and United States.
Russia ranked 6th in LNG imports, with 2.67 million tons for $1.23 billion.
According to Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, gas consumption in China is growing faster than in any other country of the Asia-Pacific region.
Miller said last week:
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The Chinese market is the most dynamic and fastest in terms of growth
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Every year it simply stuns us with the growth rate of consumption and 2021 is no exception
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In the 1st half of the year, the volume of gas consumption in China increased by 15.5%, and the volume of imports by 23.8%
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This means that by the end of 2021 the forecast estimates of consumption in China will amount to 360 billion m3 and the volume of imports will be 160 billion m3
Miller stressed:
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For the Asia-Pacific region, it is very important to ensure that the energy balance of these countries is environmentally friendly
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This means that gas should play a significant role in it because it is gas that is the cleanest, most reliable and accessible natural resource
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Most importantly, in terms of development of technological consumption, it is difficult to find an alternative to it
Meanwhile, China has also imported $25.1 billion worth of Russian oil in January-August 2021, which is a 30.4% increase year-on-year.
However, despite the growth of imports in value terms, the physical volume of crude imported from Russia to China decreased by 7.3%, to 52.92 million tons.
Still, Russia retains its position as China’s 2nd-biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, which sold 58.49 million tons to China in January-August for $27.26 billion.
