CNOOC Group, China’s biggest offshore oil and gas producer, will add 1.62 million cubic meters of storage capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Binhai terminal in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

The expansion will consist of six tanks with storage capacity of 270,000 cubic meters each and construction is expected to be completed in 2023, according to a statement from State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) yesterday.

The government of Henan will invest in two of the tanks but CNOOC will operate them, in order to meet gas demand from both Henan and Jiangsu provinces.

The cooperation between CNOOC and Henan government is the first time in China that a local government has invested in LNG infrastructure outside its administrative region, according to the SASAC statement.

The first phase of CNOOC’s Binhai LNG terminal is designed to receive 3 million tons of LNG a year and to have four storage tanks of 220,000 cubic meters each. It is expected to commence operation in 2021.

CNOOC also added two large storage tanks for LNG at the Yangshan receiving terminal that will boost the import facility’s storage capacity by 80 percent, according to domestic media reports Tuesday.

Two tanks of 200,000 cubic meters each started operation on Monday at Yangshan terminal in Shanghai, raising the terminal’s total storage space to 895,000 cubic meters, domestic media reported.

The terminal, built by local government-backed Shenergy Group and CNOOC, has an annual receiving capacity of 3 million tons of the super-chilled fuel, mainly supplying the financial hub of Shanghai.(SD-Agencies)