Sinopec's Qingdao LNG terminal receives its first Qatari gas

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal based in eastern China and operated by state oil and gas major Sinopec Corp has received its first shipment from Qatar, the state-backed Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange said on Tuesday.

The shipment, with a volume of 205,000 cubic metres, began offloading at Qingdao terminal in Shandong province on April 3, marking the first Qatari gas supply for the eastern Chinese province, the exchange said on its official Wechat account on Tuesday.

This gas is part of the 10-year supply deal Sinopec reached with Qatar Petroleum in March last year for annual supplies of 2 million tonnes, or roughly 2.8 billion cubic metres, starting this year.

Sinopec is expanding the Qingdao terminal in an effort to double annual capacity to 14 million tonnes by the end of 2023.

The company's LNG terminal in Tianjin, near Beijing, received first Qatari cargo under the same contract in January.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by David Goodman)