As Chinese demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) surges amid the coal-to-natural gas switch, companies are looking to secure supplies—and one of the biggest Chinese firms is turning to the world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar. PetroChina is in advanced talks with Qatar to buy short-term and long-term LNG supplies, Reuters reports , citing three sources briefed on the discussions. China wants to secure LNG supplies and avoid last winter’s natural gas shortages , when natural gas demand spiked in the coldest months amid the massive push to have millions of households and thousands of industry users switch from coal to natural gas. The push to cut pollution and make households switch to natural gas for heating resulted in China becoming the world’s second-largest LNG importer in 2017, outpacing South Korea and second only behind Japan, the EIA said this past winter. Qatar, for its part, aims to boost its […]