Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) will build the largest LNG storage project in China with six new LNG storage tanks planned at its 3 million ton/yr Binhai terminal, southeast of Tianjin. Storage at Binhai will total 2.5 MMcm of LNG, or roughly the capacity of 14 large LNG carriers of 170 Mcm each. Storage is critical for a Chinese gas market that still lacks full price transparency and is therefore more vulnerable to demand surprises. The $955 million expansion is due to be completed in late 2023 with each tank having capacity of 270 Mcm each. Binhai LNG terminal currently has total capacity of 880 Mcm with four 220 Mcm LNG tanks, Reuters reported (LNGI Nov.18'20). Demand Growth China’s state-run natural gas majors predict gas demand will grow faster this year due to the easing of the global pandemic. However, they also predict that China’s gas demand will peak sooner -- and lower -- on the way to a national carbon neutrality target (LNGI Sep.23'20). China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), China’s largest gas supplier, has forecast that China’s gas consumption will add at least 30 Bcm/yr (2.9 Bcf/d) this year, with an annual growth rate of 8.6%-10%, higher than last year’s 5.6%. Rival Sinopec put gas demand growth this year at around 26.2 Bcm to 36.2 Bcm, similar to CNPC’s forecast. China’s gas consumption in 2020 added 17.1 Bcm (1.7 Bcf/d) to 323.8 Bcm (LNGI Apr.28'21).
