Europe has reached China itself for LNG: gas is being taken directly from the terminal

Due to extremely low gas reserves in storage facilities EU European companies are looking for any opportunity to maintain high LNG imports and have reached Chinese terminals.

"A batch of liquefied natural gas, overloaded in China — the world's largest LNG buyer — is heading to Europe. This is a rare case that underscores the continent's desire to replenish dwindling stocks," writes Bloomberg.

The agency cited the example of the Seapeak Glasgow gas carrier, which loaded a batch at the Ningbo terminal in Zhejiang Province at the end of January and points to Europe as its next destination.

The agency's information is confirmed by the AIS data of the courts. The LNG tanker is heading towards South Africa — one of the routes to Europe.

Such LNG transshipment was the first since 2022, when Europe was hit by an energy crisis due to sanctions against Russia.

Before this winter, gas reserves in the EU turned out to be 14 billion cubic meters less than last winter, and by mid-February, all last year's accumulations will be taken from the EU's storage facilities. For the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania, this has already happened.

As Bloomberg notes, Chinese CNOOC has been actively selling off excess LNG for transshipment in recent weeks, as the season in China turned out to be not so cold.

At the same time, prices in Europe itself are higher than in Asia, but they are not growing yet after a temporary jump in late January — early February. Gas supplies for a month ahead on the TTF exchange remain around $ 400. A year ago they were almost a third higher.