China Gas Markets Methodology
China Gas Markets covers the domestic Chinese natural gas and LNG markets. Natural gas is gaseous fossil fuel, consistingprimarily of methane, but including significant quantities of ethane, propane, butane and pentane. LNG is natural gas that hasbeen cooled to -161°C (-258°F), the point at which gas condenses to a liquid.
China Gas Markets is a fortnightly report, published on the sixth and 21st of each month. If the sixth or 21st fall on a Saturday,Sunday or UK public holiday, the report will be issued on the next working day.
Price Assessment
We assess the ex-terminal price of China’s imported LNG and the unit is yuan (CNY)/tonne.
Assessment period
Our assessment is based on the information we gather from market participants during the periods sixth to 20th and 21st to 5th, but prices of deals done closest to the publishing date of our report prevail.
Gas Specifications
The gas specifications in the table relate to both natural gas and LNG
Delivery
Deals will be delivered by truck one to two days from the date of payment.
Places
Assessments reflect two main LNG terminals - Fujian Putian and Shenzhen Dapeng.
Volumes
Assessments reflect typical volumes at 20-50 tonnes, equivalent to the volumes loaded by one to two trucks.
Terms of payment
Cash and payment is made before delivery.
Assessment principles
Our assessments are based on the information we collect from market participants and we take the deals, bids and offers into consideration. If no confirmed deals are heard, our assessments reflect the highest bid and lowest offer. The price for term contract will not be taken into our assessment.
Posting prices
For the posting prices of China’s imported LNG terminals and domestic LNG plants, ICIS takes the posting prices on the publishing date of our report (fifth and 20th).
Regulated prices
China’s natural gas ex-field prices are the benchmarks set by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the NDRC publicises these prices once the benchmark prices are changed. The retail prices for residential, industrial and vehicle use are regulated by each city’s price control administration and gas companies, from which ICIS gets the prices.