China’s voracious appetite for natural gas has sparked a wave of deals with US exporters of the fuel, strengthening energy trade between the world’s two biggest economies even as their relationship grows more fraught.
The latest sales were announced on Monday when Venture Global LNG, a company building a pair of liquefied natural gas export plants in Louisiana, said it had agreed two contracts to ship 3.5m tonnes a year of the fuel to state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the country’s biggest LNG importer.
The Cnooc deals bring to seven the number of big contracts signed between US exporters and Chinese customers since October. Some of the contracts last decades. China is poised to surpass Japan as the world’s largest LNG buyer this year, analysts say, while the US will leapfrog Australia and Qatar in LNG export capacity next year, according to its Energy Information Administration.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated over everything from China’s persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong to its military activity near Taiwan. China has meanwhile accused the US of acting like a hegemon and trying to create a cold war between the powers.
The gas sales, by contrast, are another sign of ties between the two powers on energy and climate issues. The two governments also defied expectations to reach an agreement on addressing climate change at last month’s COP26 summit in Glasgow and have negotiated a joint release of strategic oil stockpiles to cool prices.
“The US-China relationship in many respects is at a very low point,” said Jason Bordoff, dean at Columbia Climate School and a former energy official under president Barack Obama. “But energy and climate are a potential bright spot where there can be more co-operation notwithstanding the tension and conflict.”
Venture Global had already signed agreements in November to send 4m tonnes a year of LNG to China’s state-owned oil and gas group Sinopec for 20 years, along with shorter-term agreements totalling 3.5m tonnes with its trading subsidiary Unipec. One of the new contracts with Cnooc is also for 20 years.
Mike Sabel, Venture Global chief executive, said China’s efforts to cut carbon emissions by replacing coal with natural gas in power plants was behind the agreements. The Sinopec deal had been timed to deliver a good message before the climate summit, he added.
“China is moving faster right now on these new deals than the rest of Asia,” Sabel told the Financial Times. “But as we announce these deals, the rest of the countries will [respond] — and are responding — because otherwise China will get an advantage.”
“We’re at this extraordinary moment where the world really needs US LNG and US LNG is the fastest that can come on line,” he added.
Cheniere Energy, the largest US LNG exporter, is betting on China to underpin growth. The Houston-based company has recently secured deals with buyers including state-backed Sinochem that total 3m tonnes a year.
“We think that Asia is the growth driver for our industry for LNG demand for decades to come, and China is the single biggest piece in that,” Anatol Feygin, Cheniere’s chief commercial officer, told the FT in October.
Dealmaking and gas flows are picking up after stalling during the Trump administration, when China imposed tariffs on US gas in retaliation for tariffs on its exports. Chinese companies have been seeking secure supplies of gas amid an economically damaging power crunch and a global gas price jump.
The US was the second-largest LNG supplier to China in the first nine months of this year, according to trade data compiled by Refinitiv. It was behind only Australia — another country whose relations with Beijing have been deteriorating.
“China is getting half its LNG from Australia and the US — that can’t make Beijing happy,” said Nikos Tsafos, head of energy and geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank. “But they have to go where the projects are, and that’s where they are right now.”

Xi Jinping, Chinese president, told his US counterpart Joe Biden that he wanted to “strengthen co-operation on natural gas” during the leaders’ first meeting last month, according to a summary of the call from China’s foreign ministry, a sign that Beijing sees the country as central to its fuel supply.
Yet selling gas overseas has become more politically sensitive inside the US after a rally recently took domestic prices above $6 a million British thermal units, the highest since 2008.
Elizabeth Warren, an influential Democratic senator, sent a letter to chief executives of 11 big natural gas producers including ExxonMobil and BP, asking if the companies had “considered cutting, suspending, or ending exports of natural gas to help ease spiking domestic prices”.
Some gas executives have pushed back, describing LNG exports as an opportunity for the US to help other countries to retire coal-fired electricity plants in favour of natural gas plants.
Bordoff at Columbia Climate School said any move to curtail exports would undermine confidence in America as a “reliable energy supplier”. He drew a parallel with European countries’ concerns about their reliance on Russian supplies, which “do have a political and geopolitical dimension to them”.
The booming international gas trade is also politically awkward for the Biden administration as it pushes to shift the economy away from fossil fuels. While natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than coal when it is burnt, it is still a big source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Tsafos at the CSIS think-tank said it reflected the “messy reality of the energy transition” — that the world remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels and the US is a large producer of oil and gas.
“The fact is, this is making both sides a bit uncomfortable,” he said.
Climate Capital

Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT’s coverage here.
Are you curious about the FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Find out more about our science-based targets here
levofloxacin 500mg pill buy levaquin 500mg online
avodart 0.5mg uk flomax online buy cheap zofran 4mg
aldactone 100mg tablet buy valacyclovir pill fluconazole 200mg us
acillin uk bactrim 960mg over the counter order erythromycin pill
order sildenafil for sale order methocarbamol pills methocarbamol cost
buy sildenafil 100mg sildenafil over the counter generic estradiol 2mg
lamictal 50mg generic order vermox 100mg pill order tretinoin cream for sale
tadalafil 20mg sale order tadacip 20mg online cheap diclofenac for sale
buy isotretinoin 10mg azithromycin 250mg brand zithromax 250mg without prescription
indomethacin 50mg uk buy trimox 250mg online amoxicillin 500mg oral
brand cialis 5mg ed medication online sildenafil pills
order anastrozole pill professional viagra generic sildenafil 100mg over the counter
tadalafil 5mg pas cher acheter 10mg cialis sildenafil 200mg sans ordonnance en pharmacie
deltasone 20mg price tadalafil usa viagra 50mg cost
tadalafil 5mg für männer viagra 50mg für frauen viagra 100mg bestellen
isotretinoin 40mg cost stromectol 12mg for sale buy ivermectin 3 mg for humans
buy doxycycline without prescription clomid medication buy lasix for sale
altace 10mg cost clobetasol online order azelastine 10 ml for sale
clonidine 0.1mg usa spiriva order tiotropium bromide 9mcg cheap
buy buspar pill amiodarone 200mg pill buy ditropan 2.5mg pills
terazosin sale purchase azulfidine sulfasalazine online order
fosamax 35mg for sale fosamax drug oral pepcid
olmesartan 10mg sale verapamil 120mg usa buy acetazolamide sale
prograf price order ropinirole 1mg for sale buy urso 300mg for sale
isosorbide online buy order imuran 25mg pill buy telmisartan 80mg generic
order zyban 150mg bupropion brand quetiapine 100mg for sale
cost molnunat 200mg buy naprosyn prevacid 30mg over the counter
zoloft 50mg over the counter buy sildenafil 100mg pill viagra drug
cheap tadalafil generic Cialis samples purchase viagra without prescription
cheap generic tadalafil buy cialis online cheap amantadine 100 mg oral
revia 50mg tablet femara price abilify for sale
order avlosulfon online cheap dapsone 100mg oral aceon 4mg generic
buy medroxyprogesterone 5mg buy medroxyprogesterone 5mg for sale cyproheptadine 4mg pills
order modafinil 200mg online cheap online pharmacy canadian ivermectin 6mg
luvox price cymbalta 40mg without prescription brand glucotrol
accutane 40mg canada buy amoxil pills deltasone order
piracetam 800mg canada viagra 100mg oral order sildenafil 100mg online cheap
zithromax online prednisolone 20mg pills oral neurontin 600mg
buy cialis 20mg generic buy sildenafil 100mg online cheap buy viagra 50mg pills
generic lasix 100mg plaquenil canada order plaquenil 400mg for sale
cialis next day betnovate 20 gm canada anafranil 25mg over the counter
aralen over the counter order cenforce for sale olumiant 4mg sale
order itraconazole without prescription buy sporanox online cheap tinidazole 500mg generic
buy metformin generic cialis overnight shipping usa order cialis 10mg
order generic zyprexa 10mg zyprexa 10mg canada order valsartan generic
norvasc usa amlodipine 10mg tablet cialis overnight
oral clozapine purchase ipratropium for sale oral dexamethasone
sildenafil 100mg pills purchase sildenafil without prescription buy lisinopril 5mg
linezolid over the counter gambling games online casino usa
prilosec 20mg us college essay assistance play poker online free no sign up
order lopressor 100mg pill purchase vardenafil online vardenafil 10mg pills
write my paper money slots free roulette games
oral levitra 10mg order generic levitra 20mg methylprednisolone 8mg pills
help with papers help write my paper oral sildenafil 50mg
order clomiphene 100mg online ventolin inhalator ca free welcome spins no deposit
triamcinolone 4mg canada claritin ca buy generic clarinex
dapoxetine 30mg generic buy dapoxetine 30mg online order synthroid 150mcg generic
orlistat 60mg pills zovirax online order acyclovir without prescription
tadalafil 20mg cheap plavix tablet clopidogrel uk
allopurinol 100mg brand allopurinol 300mg canada zetia 10mg without prescription
methotrexate 2.5mg brand order methotrexate generic order generic reglan 20mg
buy domperidone 10mg without prescription motilium 10mg uk buy flexeril 15mg generic
brand baclofen 25mg zanaflex generic toradol 10mg for sale
imitrex without prescription order avodart pills avodart 0.5mg price
order colchicine order colchicine 0.5mg generic black jack card game free
zantac 150mg brand ranitidine 150mg uk order celecoxib sale
gambling online online roulette free online roulette wheel
flomax brand tamsulosin 0.4mg generic buy aldactone pills
cialis overnight shipping usa ampicillin 500mg brand ciprofloxacin 1000mg usa
simvastatin 10mg tablet order finasteride 5mg pills buy finasteride 5mg pills
buy flagyl online trimethoprim uk generic sulfamethoxazole
cost diflucan 100mg purchase fluconazole generic buy viagra without prescription
cephalexin 250mg uk keflex 125mg ca oral erythromycin 500mg
buy sildenafil 100mg for sale cialis 40mg brand tadalafil for sale
purchase ceftin pill careprost for sale online methocarbamol for sale online
real money spins online live online blackjack order cialis 5mg without prescription
purchase trazodone without prescription order desyrel 100mg online sildenafil 50mg price