OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2014. China’s first LNG regasification terminal is set to receive its 600th cargo in the middle of next month, taking its lifetime import volume to 40 mt, according to one of the operator’s managers.

The Dapeng terminal in Guangdong province – which is majority-owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and in which BP is also a stakeholder – had received 577 cargoes and delivered 38.3 mt of gas to customers in the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong as of the end of July 2014, said Wei Guanghua, deputy general manager of operations at Guangdong Dapeng LNG. The terminal had delivered 35 mt of gas by the end of last year since entering operations in 2006. It sent out 6.56 mt in 2011, but this fell to 5.8 mt in 2012 and 2013, according to Wei. The decline resulted from competing supplies of gas from the second West-East Pipeline (WEP II), controlled by PetroChina.

Before WEP II started pumping gas to Guangdong, the Dapeng terminal supplied 85% of the province’s gas needs, but that share has since fallen to 70%, Wei told Interfax. A fourth LNG storage tank – with a capacity of 160,000 cubic metres – is under construction at Dapeng and is expected to be completed in July 2015, said Wei.

It was successfully lifted and set in place in June. The first phase of the terminal had a receiving capacity of 3.7 mtpa. This was later expanded to a nameplate capacity of 6.8 mtpa. CNOOC started up a second Guangdong terminal last year in Zhuhai, with a capacity of 3.5 mtpa. It is also building a 4 mtpa terminal that just a few kilometres away from Dapeng.

When that goes online next year, CNOOC will have five operational terminals along China’s southern coast. Gas demand in southeastern provinces is quite stable, Chem365 analyst Li Fengyan told Interfax. Li said LNG supply from CNOOC’s existing four terminals of Dapeng, Zhuhai, Putian in Fujian province and Hainan LNG – along with Jovo Group’s 1 mtpa terminal in Dongguan – is sufficient. But if gas from western LNG plants and CBM projects is cheaper than imported LNG, gas sales at these terminals will be affected, said Li. CNOOC owns 33% of Guangdong Dapeng LNG.

BP is the second largest shareholder with a 30% interest. The remaining equity is divided between local and Hong Kong utility and energy companies.