Chinese gas trading platform lures interest: press

A new Chinese gas trading platform is set to launch having lured 41 market participants who together generated $1.1bn in taxable sales over the past financial year, Yicai Global reported June 27.

Yangkou Port Energy Center was launched two years ago to provide eastern Jiangsu province with an integrated gas trading and imports ecosystem. The energy centre hosts a 10mn mt/yr LNG terminal at Yangkou Port, reportedly the first such facility in the Yangtze River Delta region.

As of last month, more than 44mn mt of LNG had been brought in through Yangkou Port, originating from 25 export markets, including leading suppliers Qatar, Australia and Russia. Now Yangkou Port is working on a trading platform to join up its LNG import ecosystem. 

The regional trading launch follows similar endeavours nationally. An online LNG trading platform by Chinese majors CNOOC and Sinopec was launched a few years ago, as part of Beijing's efforts to accelerate market-oriented reform of the national oil and gas industry. 

"After more than two years of early stage preparation, the feasibility study report [for the trading platform] has now been completed, and it is currently waiting for experts in the province to organise a review," said the port's deputy general manager Wang Yingjun.