OPINION | Politics and profits collide as Chinese firms continue buying US LNG

Since 2018, Chinese energy companies including PetroChina, CNOOC and Unipec have signed nearly 20 LNG supply contracts with US producers such as Cheniere Energy, Venture Global and NextDecade, totalling around 25 million tonnes of supply per year, according to data from the Centre on Global Energy Policy.

Most of these long-term contracts, which underpin the financing of multi-billion-dollar LNG projects along the US Gulf Coast, run for 20 or 25 years.

The US exported nearly 110 million tonnes of LNG last year, accounting for more than a quarter of global supply.

China, the world's largest LNG importer, bought 4.3 million tonnes of US LNG in 2024, around five per cent of total American exports that year, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.