The majority state-owned energy firm, Oman LNG, has signed a binding agreement to supply China’s International United Petroleum and Chemical Co. (UNIPEC) with about 1 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum for four years.
The deal, which will start in 2025, marks a milestone for both Oman LNG and UNIPEC, the trading arm of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec). The Omani energy firm tweeted Wednesday that the agreement comes “to leverage the ever-growing partnership between Oman LNG and international firms.”
In November last year, Sinopec entered into a deal with another state-owned energy firm, QatarEnergy, by signing a 27-year sale and purchase agreement for the supply of four million tons per annum of LNG.
The contracted LNG volumes will be supplied from QatarEnergy’s North Field East LNG expansion project and will be delivered to Sinopec’s terminals in China, the company said in a statement.
China was the world’s biggest LNG importer in 2021, but this title went to Japan in 2022, according to data from Statista. In 2022, Japan’s LNG import terminals boasted a combined capacity of 227.7 million metric tons per year. China, however, is the country with the largest LNG import capacity under development and is expected to add more than 200 million metric tons in annual capacity.
