Sinopec to Increase Spot LNG Purchases
Sinopec will increase spot LNG purchases to ensure gas supplies are sufficient, especially in northern China, during the winter season, it said August 4.
The company expects winter demand to be strong. In the first seven months of 2018 Sinopec sold yuan 16.3bn ($2.4bn) worth of natural gas, up 13.4% year on year, with imported gas accounting for 37% of total sales. The company has three receiving terminals in operation in China, at Qingdao, Tianjin and Beihai, each with a capacity of 3mn mt/yr. Sinopec said it will look to build three new terminals at Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, Nantong in Jiangsu province and Longkou in Shandong province.
Sinopec will also be working on expanding the capacity of its existing terminals. Last month Sinopec announced it has received approval to begin work on second phase of Qingdao LNG terminal in Shandong province. Construction work is expected to begin in 2H2018, Sinopec said September 4. Once the second phase is complete, terminal’s handling capacity will reach 7mn mt/yr. By 2023, Sinopec plans to have an LNG receiving capacity of 41mn mt/yr.
Sinopec further stated that it will boost gas pipeline connectivity in northern China before the onset of winters. It will also look to increase its gas storage capacity. Last year Sinopec started work on the first phase of the Wen 23 underground gas storage facility. Once the facility is complete, company’s total storage capacity will exceed 10bn m3. Sinopec also operates the Wen 96 storage facility that was put into operation in 2012 while first phase of its Jintan gas storage became operational in 2016.