Qatargas delivered its first LNG cargo to commission state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation's Zhejiang Ningbo LNG terminal Wednesday, Qatargas said in a statement on its website late Friday.
The cargo was delivered by Qatargas' Q-Max LNG vessel, Zarga. Q-Max LNG vessels are one of two new carrier designs put into service in recent years by Qatar. Both types of vessels are significantly larger than traditional LNG ships which have a capacity of 145,000 cu m.
The smaller Q-Flex design has capacity of 215,000 cu m and, like the 263,000-266,000 cu m Q-Max, has on-board regasification capabilities.
"We are very pleased LNG from Qatar continues to contribute towards meeting the growing demand for energy in the People's Republic of China," Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatargas' CEO said.
Qatargas and CNOOC have an existing sales and purchase agreement signed in 2008 for the supply of a total of 2 million mt/year of LNG. The first delivery of LNG from Qatar to China with CNOOC was made in October 2009.
CNOOC officials could not be contacted for comment.
The Zhejiang Ningbo LNG terminal, in Ningbo port in China's eastern Zhejiang province, will have a first-phase processing capacity of 3 million mt/year.
In its first phase, the facility will have one jetty to accommodate 80,000-266,000 cu m LNG ships and three storage tanks with a capacity of 160,000 cu m each, according to CNOOC Zhejiang Ningbo LNG's website.
The company plans to double the terminal's capacity to 6 million mt/year by 2017, but no details were available.
CNOOC Zhejiang LNG is owned by CNOOC Gas & Power Group (51%), Zhejiang Province Energy Group (29%) and Ningbo City Electricity Development Company (20%).
CNOOC has three other LNG regasification terminals in Dapeng (6.8 million mt/year), Fujian (2.8 million mt/year) and Shanghai (3.1 million mt/year).
