Gas Volumes at Record Levels in CNPC's Underground Storage
Chinese state CNPC said October 29 it has completed injecting gas into its underground storage facilities, with volumes reaching new record ahead of the winter season that starts from November.
The company said more than 9bn m3 of gas had been injected into 10 underground storage facilities by mid-October, up 22% year on year.
China’s gas consumption has been rising since the start of 2017 as the government aggressively implemented the coal to gas switching programme, especially in the northern part of the country. A sudden spike in consumption resulted in severe gas shortages in large parts of the country, especially in the countryside, during the last winter season. To avoid such shortages in the future, the government is working on building new import terminals, pipelines and storage facilities.
Recently, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) said in a report that PetroChina, the listed entity of CNPC, is preparing to supply sufficient gas to meet demand in the winters. PetroChina will focus on fully utilising its three LNG terminals at Jiangsu, Tangshan and Dalian by increasing its procurement of LNG, especially on the spot market. In addition to LNG imports China also imports gas from central Asia and Myanmar via pipelines.