British supermajor BP has agreed to a 10-year LNG sales and purchase agreement with Zhejiang Energy, China Daily reported on May 23.

Under the terms of the deal, the British energy giant will ship Zhejiang with up to 1mn tonnes per year (tpy) of the super-chilled fuel on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis.

Zhejiang and BP met for talks to finalize the deal at the 29th World Gas Conference held in Beijing from May 19-23.

The agreement between the two energy companies marks another chapter in their strategic cooperation. The two firms also inked an LNG deal in 2023.

China is the world’s largest LNG importer after wrestling that title away from Japan in 2023. However, imports slipped over the first four months of the year, falling by 24% compared to the same period in 2024.

In April, China dipped into the LNG spot market, taking advantage of a drop in prices, with two LNG cargoes bought for around $10 per million British thermal units.

The Asian powerhouse has leaned largely on Russia and Turkmenistan for its gas supply by pipeline. Western sanctions have also allowed Beijing to scoop up Russian gas at a discounted price. The cost for China of importing gas is expected to be as much as 28% lower than for Russia’s remaining European clients at least until 2027.

Seaborne gas delivered to China largely comes from Australia, Malaysia, and Qatar.

The US also used to be a key supplier of LNG to China, however amid a trade war between the two countries Beijing has been re-exporting a record amount of LNG supply to Asian neighbours. In April alone, China re-exported over 280,000 tonnes of LNG, marking the highest monthly total ever and about 7.7% of the country’s total LNG imports for the month.

China is in the midst of a strong fuel-switching push to replace coal with natural gas as part of its climate targets. Beijing has also set a net-zero target of 2060.