Page 7 - DMEA Week 07 2023

DMEA SUPPLY & PROCESSING DMEA

Oman LNG signs supply

deal with China’s Unipec

OMAN STATE-OWNED Oman LNG has reached an Gulf LNG providers. In November, the company
agreement to supply China’s Unipec with 1mn reached agreement on a 27-year supply deal with
tonnes per year (tpy) of liquefied natural gas QatarEnergy for 4mn tpy of LNG. The historic
(LNG) for a four-year period beginning in 2025, deal is the longest such agreement signed to date.
state news agency ONA revealed on February 8. China’s LNG imports are forecast for a mod-
The deal marks the first agreement between est rebound in 2023 to at least 70mn tonnes after
Oman and a Chinese firm. Unipec is the trading dropping by 20% year on year in 2022 to 64.4mn
arm of China’s largest refiner Sinopec. tonnes. It marked the largest annual decline for
Oman LNG has had a busy start to 2023, the country since it began importing LNG in
having also reached deals to supply France’s 2006.
TotalEnergies and Thailand’s PTT Global LNG The slide in imports was largely due to strict
Company with 0.8mn tpy of LNG. Covid lockdowns combined with a rise in the
The company also signed a contract with use of natural gas from domestic production and
Shell International Trading Middle East FZE for pipeline sources.
the offtake of 0.8mn tpy of LNG as well. As Shell’s While Beijing’s decision in December to
first long-term offtake agreement from Oman, scrap its zero-Covid policy has indicated signs of
the deal once again marked a new business part- an improved economic outlook, struggling real
nership for the Gulf country. Meanwhile, for estate and weakening exports have tempered the
Sinopec the deal highlights growing ties with projected rebound on LNG imports for 2023.™

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