Shafaqna English– Over the past several years, LNG producers have consistently identified China as the single most important factor driving forward global demand growth. That belief underpinned multibillion-dollar commitments to build new export terminals and pipelines along a corridor stretching from North America’s Gulf Coast to the Middle Eastern state of Qatar, with expectations firmly anchored on China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for natural gas.
Despite producers preparing to unleash a significant influx of additional LNG capacity in the years ahead, China’s demand for the super-chilled fuel is showing clear signs of softening. This trend poses a potential threat to the economic feasibility of several future projects, which have been designed largely around the anticipation of robust and continuous long-term purchasing requirements from markets across Asia and Europe.