Adnoc has signed three LNG supply agreements with Chinese firms, according to statements issued over the weekend on X here and here. The agreements were signed during Adnoc CEO Sultan Al Jaber’s visit to Beijing, where the company also inaugurated a new sales and marketing office in China, Adnoc said in the statements.

In context: The agreements come amid an intensified trade war between the US and China that has seen the latter cut its imports of US LNG to zero over the last three months, Bloomberg reports citing Chinese customs data. The halt is reportedly driving China to secure new supply agreements to replace US cargos, which accounted for about 5% of the country’s LNG imports last year, Reuters reports.

What we know about the agreements:

  • A 15-year agreement with China’s ENN: Adnoc and ENN’s subsidiary ENN LNG inked a 15-year sale and purchase agreement that will see Adnoc supply 1 mn metric tons per year (mtpa) of LNG from its low-carbon Ruwais LNG project. The agreement with ENN formalizes a previous heads of terms agreement with the firm last November ;
  • A 5-year agreement with Zhenhua Oil: The state-owned Zhenhua Oil is reportedly set to receive LNG imports through a five-year agreement starting in 2026, sources told Reuters. The agreement includes a supply of up to 12 cargoes annually, with deliveries benchmarked to the Japan Korea Marker and Brent oil prices. The exact quantity of LNG was not disclosed;
  • Another 5-year supply agreement: China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is reportedly slated to uptake LNG imports through a five-year agreement, marking the third supply contract Adnoc signed with Chinese buyers over the weekend, two Chinese trading sources told Reuters. Under the agreement, CNOOC will uptake 500k mtpa effective from 2026.

Adnoc’s been on an LNG roll: The company has been converting initial agreements into long-term contracts over the past few months, after securing commitments for at least 8 mn of Ruwais’ 9.6 mn mtpa capacity, including for buyers in China, Japan, Germany, Malaysia, and other countries across Asia and Europe

Tags: