CNOOC : China's CNOOC to add six LNG storage tanks at Binhai terminal

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Group will add 1.62 million cubic metres of storage capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Binhai terminal in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

The expansion will consist of six tanks with storage capacity of 270,000 cubic metres each and construction is expected to be completed in 2023, according to a statement from State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) on Wednesday.

The government of Henan, a province in central China, will invest in two of the tanks but CNOOC will operate them, in order to meet gas demand from both Henan and Jiangsu.

The cooperation between CNOOC and Henan government is the first time in China that a local government has invested in LNG infrastructure outside its administrative region, according to the SASAC statement.

The first phase of CNOOC's Binhai LNG terminal is designed to receive 3 million tonnes of LNG a year and to have four storage tanks of 220,000 cubic metres each. It is expected to commence operation in 2021.

(Reporting by Muyu Xu in Beijing and Chen Aizhu in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)