SINGAPORE - BP Plc and Repsol YPF SA may supply two spot cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) Oto China, the world's biggest energy consumer, in January as cold weather and a growing economy spur demand, according to ship-tracking data.

Castillo de Santisteban, a 173,673 cubic-meter tanker, may reach Shanghai's LNG terminal on Jan 18, carrying a cargo from Peru's Pampa Melchorita facility, according to AISLive on Bloomberg. Repsol YPF has marketing rights for the cleaner-burning fuel from the 4.5 million ton-a-year facility, according to New York Energy Intelligence Group's World LNG Review.

One of China's three LNG terminals may receive a shipment on Jan 24 on BP's British Merchant, a 138,517 cubic-meter vessel, from Point Fortin, Trinidad & Tobago, according to transmissions from ships. A cargo was delivered to Guangdong Dapeng LNG Corp on Jan 7 on the GDF Suez Cape Ann, a 145,000 cubic-meter vessel, possibly from Idku in Egypt.

China may have secured an LNG cargo from Russia in December on a spot basis, according to ship-tracking data.

The country did not buy any spot supplies in November compared with three cargoes from Yemen, Russia and Trinidad & Tobago in October, according to customs data.

Prices of ex-ship spot LNG into East Asia for delivery 30 days ahead were $9.90 for each million British thermal units (BTU) as of Jan 5, according to bids and offers gathered by Spectron Group, a brokerage owned by Imarex ASA.

That's more than twice the price of benchmark gas futures at Henry Hub in the United States, and about $1.20 more than benchmark UK gas for each million BTU, used to price spot cargoes delivered to Asia.

Chinese imports of LNG rose 23 percent from a year earlier to 727,575 tons in November, according to the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs. They were at a record 995,369 tons in August.

LNG is natural gas chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume for shipment by tankers to destinations not connected by pipeline.

Bloomberg News