LNG

The area around Tianjin in northeast China currently has floating and onshore import terminals and is already the nation’s leading LNG importer, but an expansion of the onshore terminal and the construction of a new facility, the largest in China, will turn the Port into the main China LNG Hub and the biggest in Asia.

According to Customs data, Tianjin accounting for nearly 20 percent of all Chinese LNG imports during the first four months of 2020.

From January to April, LNG imports through the Tianjin port increased 25.6 percent year-on-year to total 3.92 million tonnes.

The LNG imported through the port mainly came from Australia, Russia and Asian nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Tianjin North onshore terminal is operated by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec.

Sinopec, which plans to more than double its LNG receiving capacities to 41 million tonnes by 2025, currently operates three import terminals.

It is also a partner of US major ConocoPhillips in the Australia-Pacific LNG production plant in Queensland with a contract for more than 7 million tonnes per annum of supplies.

The Chinese company operates three terminal in China at Qingdao in Shandong province, the Tianjin North terminal and the Beihai facility in the Guangxi autonomous region bordering Vietnam.

There has also been a Tianjin floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) deployed since 2013 by China National Offshore Oil Corp., the nation's largest LNG importer.

The role during the past couple of winter seasons has been carried out by the “Höegh Esperanza”.

Sinopec’s plans include expanding the Tianjin terminal, which guarantees supplies to Beijing during winter, to have a capacity to handle 12 MTPA of imports.

Another import project is being developed at Tianjin by Beijing Gas Group and is known as the Nangang project.

It is currently scheduled to come on line in 2022 with 10 tanks and up to 2 million tonnes of storage.

Beijing Gas has obtained the government's approval to construct the terminal with huge storage tank capacity in the Nangang district of Tianjin City, giving the port area three separate facilities and eventually up to 25 MTPA of capacity, making it the biggest single LNG import centre in Asia.

Nangang will have an initial 5 MTPA of capacity and will then be gradually expanded.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, backed by the Chinese government, said in December 2019 it was investing $500 million in the new Beijing Gas LNG project.

With a population of around 113 million, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is one of the most important economic engines within China and has increasing natural gas demand.

Beijing Gas is mainly engaged in city-gas distribution and supplies more than 10 billion cubic metres per annum to the Chinese capital and surrounding areas.

Its new Tianjin terminal will also have a jetty to receive the largest carriers of 260,000 cubic metres capacity.

There will additionally be a pipeline of 230 kilometres to send regasified LNG supplies from the coast to gas storage facilities near Beijing. 

Höegh LNG, the Norwegian project company and fleet owner, said that coronavirus outbreak in China has not had any direct effect on the company’s revenues nor operations, including its floating storage and regasification unit deployed at Tianjin port in northeast China to supply Beijing.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports rose to a record level last month as shipments continued to be attracted by high North Asian spot prices with the main suppliers such as Qatar, Australia and Nigeria keeping up their delivery momentum.

Air Products, the LNG equipment maker and process provider with a growing industrial gases business in China, posted higher quarterly net income as revenue was again more than $2.2 billion.

China has imported another record total of LNG in 2018 as more winter natural gas supplies were brought to the northern cities such as Beijing to help reduce coal use and improve air quaity, aided by warmer seasonal temperatures that cut heating needs.

Among the final shipments of 2018, carriers were unloading their cargoes on December 31 from nations such as Australia, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Chinese imports had surged in the January-November period by 43.6 percent to 47.52MT and have also reached record levels in December 2018.

According to shipping data and estimates, LNG imports to China through December 22, had risen to more than 6.5MT and were expected to break the 7.5MT mark by year-end.

That would put China’s total of LNG imports in 2018 at around 56MT versus just over 39MT in 2017, second only to Japan’s 83.52MT.

China had imported 5.9MT in November 2018, surpassing the previous monthly record of 5.18MT set in January 2018, according to data from the country's General Administration of Customs.

The imports of LNG had risen by around 46 percent in 2017 from the previous year when shipments had amounted to just over 27MT.

LNG carriers from Australia, the Middle East and Africa are still heading in significant numbers for Chinese import terminals with January shipments to be regasified at its network of 20 import facilities.

In addition to its 19 onshore terminals, China has also deployed the floating storage and regasification unit, the 170,000 cubic metres capacity “Hoegh Esperanza”, at Tianjin port in northeast China to serve Beijing.

Analysts said the Chinese government had largely succeeded in its pledge to ensure abundant natural gas supplies and stable prices this winter as previous large-scale coal use was being replaced as far as possible by natural gas to improve air quality.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission had also unveiled measures to work on expanding the gas pipeline network, improve gas storage and make arrangements to meet peak demand.

The 155,000 cubic metres capacity LNG carrier “GasLog Santiago” was delivering one of the final shipments of 2018 from Australia.

The vessel was unloading its cargo on December 31 at the Ningbo terminal, owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp. in eastern Zheijang province, from the Queensland Curtis plant near Gladstone.

The 152,500 cubic metres capacity vessel “Seri Bakti”, owned by Malaysian shipping line MISC, was unloading an Indonesian cargo on December 31 at the port of Tianjin, east of Beijing.

Among African cargoes, the 141,000 cubic metres capacity “LNG Akwa Ibom” was delivering an Nigerian shipment on December 31 to the Mengtougou terminal operated by Shanghai Gas.

Norwegian fleet owner Hoegh LNG said it had taken delivery of the “Hoegh Gannet”, its ninth floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), and the vessel would be chartered as a conventional carrier until a long-term import project is found.

Chinese LNG imports rose by almost 43 percent last month, led by Australian and Qatari shipments, as the natural gas needs of China continued to keep pace with its economic growth and amid a future expected surge in US volumes and of pipeline gas supplies from Russia.

Hoegh LNG of Norway said it signed a time charter for the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Hoegh Esperanza” with a subsidiary of the Chinese energy major, China National Offshore Oil Corp., for deployment in northeast China and for part-time use a conventional carrier