What are they up to? [totally unrelated to this story] Methane clathrates off Okinawa?
From Energy Voice, July 27:
At a time when natural gas buyers are fighting over every last molecule, China — the world’s top importer — is noticeably quiet.
In stark contrast to rivals across the region, China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers aren’t procuring additional shipments for winter, gambling that the nation’s Covid Zero policy will continue to temper demand, said traders. A global supply crunch has made LNG very expensive, and traders don’t want to pay if the fuel won’t be needed.
It’s a risky bet that could quickly backfire if the weather turns unusually cold or China’s economy rebounds, upending a global gas market that’s already reeling from supply cuts from Russia and outages at key LNG export facilities.
A sudden rebound in Chinese demand for gas would force importers back into the cutthroat competition to procure LNG, exacerbating a worldwide shortage and sending prices — already at a seasonal high — to stratospheric levels.
It’s “an anomaly” for Chinese companies not to be buying LNG supplies on the spot market as winter purchases head into full swing, said Toby Copson, global head of trading and advisory at Trident LNG. “It means China isn’t stressed about supply – what they have available via gas pipeline and their domestic coal production seems to be sufficient for the time being.”
That comfort level led to a roughly 20% drop in LNG imports for the first six months of the year. China became the world’s top LNG importer in 2021, but is expected to lose the title this year.
China’s inactivity on LNG is providing opportunities for other buyers in Asia and Europe to shore up their gas inventories. Chinese firms are actually reselling spare LNG to energy-starved importers in Europe....
....MUCH MORE
There are methane seeps in the Okinawa Trough which probably indicate that at depth there are methane clathrates (hydrates), "ice that burns" and because of the location the resource could become very contentious. If it exists in commercial quantities.
Here's the neighborhood, the trough runs from Okinawa to Taiwan:
Japan's Responses In the Event Of A Chinese Attack On TaiwanYou can see Japan's quandary if you follow the islands down to Okinawa and beyond:
And naturally enough there is a complicating factor in the competing claims to the Senkaku islands:
Barren Senkaku Nationalism and China-Japan Conflict
Again, there is no evidence the methane is available in commercial quantities but it is one more reason that part of the world is worth keeping an eye on.
