Regional LNG: CNOOC to build another 3 LNG terminals: Report
Friday, October 22 2004 - 01:49 PM WIB
CNOOC is already building two LNG terminals in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and is planning three others in Zhejiang province and municipalities of Shanghai and Tianjin with a combined capacity of 22 million tons/year by the year 2010.
The terminal projects are expected to boost China's potential LNG imports to 33.5 million tons/year by 2010, from earlier projections of 25 million tons/year. CNOOC?s 3.7 million-ton/year Guangdong terminal will be the first to be put into operations in mid-2006.
Over the last two weeks, CNOOC has signed a slew of agreements with the provincial governments in Liaoning, Jiangsu and Shantou to jointly develop LNG receiving terminals and associated gas pipelines, according to statements issued by the company to Dow Jones Thursday.
The proposed projects - expected to begin operations around 2010 - aren't expected to be offered to foreign investors, an industry analyst said.
The planned Shantou LNG terminal - in south China's Guangdong province - seems most likely to be the first among the three recently signed projects to come on-stream.
Under the agreement signed between CNOOC unit CNOOC Gas & Power Ltd. and the Shantou government earlier this week, the company and the local government will jointly develop a 2.5 million-ton/year LNG receiving terminal and 200 kilometers of associated natural gas trunk pipelines in the first phase of the project. The project has been valued at CNY4.5 billion.
The terminal will be later expanded under a second phase, the size of which depends on market demand.
CNOOC Gas & Power expects to determine the terminal's location and complete all prefeasibility studies by June 30, 2005, and to receive central government approval by Aug. 31, 2006. The terminal is targeted for completion around 2010.
CNOOC has also signed a cooperation agreement with northeast China's Liaoning provincial government to develop a 3 million-ton/year LNG receiving terminal and around 400 kilometers of natural gas trunk lines, at an investment of CNY5 billion.
The Liaoning government will appoint a joint-venture partner for CNOOC. The terminal is likely to be near Yingkou city.
In eastern China's Jiangsu province, CNOOC is developing a CNY15 billion project involving a 3 million-ton/year LNG terminal, 328 kilometers of natural gas transmission pipelines and a 2,400-megawatt gas-fired power plant near Yancheng city. The proposed LNG terminal will be located at Binhai.
Another Chinese oil and gas company China Petrochemical Corp., a unit of the Sinopec Group, is planning a 3 million-ton/year terminal in Shandong, northeast China. (*)