Similarly, state Sinopec’s trading arm, Unipec, signed a global trading agreement with German trader SEFE Securing Energy for Europe to explore joint initiatives in financial risk management, carbon markets and beyond. With these type of agreements, Chinese NOCs are seeking to build up the knowhow to manage an increasingly complex portfolio needed to navigate the global LNG market, according to analysts. PetroChina traded a total of 32 million tons annually, of which 18 million tons was imported by China and 14 million tons was traded with third parties, according to Tian. CNOOC has two Qatari contracts for a combined 5.5 million ton/yr, while Sinopec has a 2 million ton/yr deal. CNOOC imported around 27.4 million tons of LNG in China last year, while PetroChina imported 12.5 million tons and Sinopec around 13.4 million tons, according to ship-tracking data from commodity analytics firm Kpler.