China, the driver of global demand, is forecast to become the world’s largest gas-buying country with net imports approaching the level of the European Union by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency’s the World Energy Outlook. China already overtook South Korea as second-largest LNG importer last year and is on track to surpass Japan. By 2040, it will be buying a total of 369 billion cubic meters of gas, while volumes into the EU, the biggest buyer, will be just 4 billion cubic meters higher. The gap was as big as 243 billion last year. China’s emergence as a super power in the energy markets will benefit exporters of liquefied natural gas as well as Russian pipeline gas supplier Gazprom PJSC that’ll next year complete its first link to supply the fuel to China known as Power of Siberia. China’s gas demand triples to 710 billion cubic meters by 2040 and accounts for nearly 30 percent of total demand growth in the period. Bloomberg

 

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