【SCI View】Beijing Gas to Enhance LNG Import and Storage Capacity

Beijing Gas to Enhance LNG Import and Storage Capacity

Beijing Gas plans to widely enhance its LNG import and storage capacity to secure its supply stability in downstream. Beijing Gas’s deputy general manager, Mr. Xu Tong, said at last week’s CWC LNG and Gas Conference in Beijing that the company will secure its LNG supply as well as piped gas. Xu added CNOOC, CNPC and Sinopec are the main suppliers, but Beijing Gas is also seeking for its own long-term contracts to match its own terminals and shares at others, and this trading part would be responsibility of its Singapore branch. Beijing Gas’s president, Mrs. Li Yalan, also said at a conference earlier to build up a stable sourcing and storage capacity so to secure Beijing’s natural gas consumption.

This city gas giant plans to build its own terminal in Tianjin’s Nangang as a neighbor of CNOOC Tianjin and Sinopec Tianjin, whilst its LNG affiliate Blue Sky Holdings is in progress to utilize Sinoenergy’s two LNG terminals together with Sam Group after Sinoenergy’s bankruptcy crisis.

The new LNG terminal in Tianjin is designed with a receiving capacity at 5 Mtpa and with a total LNG storage capacity at 1 bcm (10 200,000 cbm tanks as in previous press meeting, but according to latest news, the company plans to increase the tank capacity to 220,000 and adjust the tank numbers to fit the terminal site condition). It was also matched with a 300 kilometers short pipeline to connect to Beijing’s gas grid, and the whole project aimed to reach 50 million cbm/day out capacity (regas and truck loading). According to Beijing Gas, this project has been applied to the government for approval and will be put into construction straight after. It is expected the construction will start within 2019, and this terminal will be put into operation from the winter of 2022.

Meanwhile, during Sinoenergy’s bankruptcy crisis, Beijing Gas Blue Sky Holdings seized the opportunity to cooperate with Sam Group in order to utilize the two terminals which has been 90% constructed by Sinoenergy but totally shutdown after Sinoenergy’s financial crisis. The 1 Mtpa Chaozhou terminal and 2 Mtpa Jiangyin Terminal both finished storage tank construction and were planned to start operation from 2018.

Besides those three new projects, Beijing Gas and its LNG affiliate Blue Sky Holdings also have a strong sense of presence in China’s LNG sector. They have franchised sales rights at CNOOC Ningbo terminal and Sinopec Qingdao (DJK) Terminal, while they acquire 10% shares of CNPC Shennan Terminal in South China’s Hainan Island, and 29% shares of CNPC Tangshan (CFD) Terminal.

As China’s top 5 city gas giants, Beijing Gas builds up a matured city gas network in China’s capital city. As the most important focus of the company, the Beijing gas network coverage expands to the sixth ring of the city, and Beijing Gas also takes charge of all four heating centers of the city. Despite a 1:6 valley-peak difference and 2017’s winter storage, Beijing Gas has successfully secured the natural gas supply to the capital city since its establishment. According to the company, its natural gas supply to Beijing city surpassed 21 bcm in 2018, and Beijing Gas’s role in China’s natural gas promotion and the coal-to-gas switch will be prominent in the future.

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