India's overall oil and gas output rose 1.3% on the year to 1.15 million boe/d in 2023. China's upstream story sounds relatively more promising at this stage.

The opening of these research facilities and testing platforms by China to the world is expected to promote the development of nuclear technology worldwide.

The US placed Arctic LNG 2 under direct sanctions in November, in effect blocking its allies from buying the project’s gas when it starts production. The move followed an EU ban on the transfer of LNG-related technology to Russia in April 2022, two months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The interest in additional supplies from China — the world’s biggest LNG importer — is emerging after a drop in spot prices made the fuel more cost competitive with local gas options and oil products,

China saw a robust increase in its peak power demand in 2021-2022 due to an increase in the prevalence of air conditioners amid exceptionally intense heat waves. This prompted an enhancement of more coal-based power generation capacity as a "costly and suboptimal solution,"

The construction of two 1200 MWe Hualong One reactors as Phase I of the Jinqimen plant was approved by China's State Council at a meeting on 29 December last year.

For 2023 as a whole, Indonesian exports scaled a new high of 504.6 million tons, so if the blistering pace of exports seen so far this year is sustained, 2024 will mark a new high for Indonesian exports of the power fuel.

Market players said the truck LNG price in China has continued to decline, with an average price of around Yuan 4,100/mt as of Feb. 7, marking a decrease of approximately 15% compared with the average price in 2023. Additionally, specific regional prices have dipped below Yuan 3,600/mt due to factory closures and reduced production during the festive season, sources said.

CNOOC expects production to continue growing over the next two years, with plans to reach 2.25 million boe/d in 2026.

Beijing’s agenda in the South China Sea may also be spurred by energy interests