The world's three largest liquefied natural gas storage tanks, currently under construction by China National Offshore Oil Corp, finished dome lifting operations on Wednesday in East China's Jiangsu province.
Upon completion at the end of 2023, the three LNG tanks will further enhance China's natural gas storage capacity, according to its operator.
This, industry experts said, is a milestone for China's ultra-large LNG storage tank design and construction capabilities as well as its project management prowess, both of which are now considered world-class.
These will provide massive experience for future large-scale and mass construction of LNG storage tanks in the country, said Li Feng, general manager of CNOOC Jiangsu LNG Co Ltd, the local unit that will operate the facilities.
The three LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 270,000 cubic meters, are located in Yancheng Binhai Port Industrial Park. They are part of the company's LNG terminal project that includes six new ultra-large tanks and four large tanks, with a total storage volume of 2.5 million cubic meters, said the country's top offshore oil and gas driller in a release.
The project is tipped to become the largest LNG storage base in China with an annual LNG processing capacity of around 6 million metric tons. That is equivalent of 8.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas that can meet the gas demand of residents in Jiangsu for 28 months, it said.
Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF, said China has endeavored to enhance its gas storage capacity in recent years to meet seasonal and regional rebalancing demand, considering that the country's gas storage capacity is still below the international average.
More LNG storage tanks need to be built in China to satisfy an ever-growing appetite for gas across the country, Li said.
The Binhai LNG terminal is building itself into the largest LNG storage base in China. Once completed, it will greatly strengthen gas supply security and demand rebalancing capacity, she said.
"The LNG tanks in Jiangsu will further enhance China's natural gas storage capacity, which is still far from the target, while the facility is key to meeting peak-shaving and seasonal rebalancing demand."
The Jiangsu LNG Binhai Receiving Station will also play a key role in optimizing the country's energy structure, protecting the environment and accelerating the industrial transformation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, CNOOC said.
The gas lift operation, a process to lift the dome from the bottom of the tank to a predetermined position at the top, driven by the pressure difference between enclosed space and external surroundings, is one of the most difficult, complicated and risky engineering tasks in installing and constructing LNG storage tanks, said the company.
Yang Yong, deputy general manager of CNOOC Gas and Power Group, a subsidiary of CNOOC, said the parent company has been actively pushing forward the layout and construction of large and ultra-large LNG storage tanks in recent years, including 11 tanks each with a capacity of 270,000 cubic meters under construction in Zhuhai and Ningbo.
CNOOC said it expects the newly added LNG storage capacity will reach 5.67 million cubic meters by the end of 2025, which will further meet the country's gas demand.
Editor: Leon
