China’s Sinopec began operations at its first LNG receiving terminal in southern Guangdong province on Sunday, the company said on Monday.

A vessel from Australia arrived at the Huaying terminal with 72,000 metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), marking the official start of operations, according to a statement by the company known officially as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp 600028.SS0386.HK.

The terminal is a joint venture between Sinopec and Huaying Investment Holding Group.
It has three LNG storage tanks with capacity of 200,000 cubic metres each and one LNG carrier berth with 6 million tons of annual receiving and transfer capacity.

A second phase is planned, Sinopec said without specifying the time frame, increasing the receiving and transfer capacity to 12 million tons and making it the largest such facility in Guangdong province.

Sinopec now has a total of 12 LNG terminals, the release said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Colleen Howe, Editing by David Goodman)