Hong Kong will work with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. to introduce LNG as a fuel for the road transport sector, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.
The partnership between CNOOC and local company Hong Kong LNG Co. aims to help Hong Kong cut pollution by developing LNG as a vehicle fuel and building a network of LNG refueling stations, the report said.
At the outset, the duo will carry out a trial on an LNG-powered bus, which will be fueled in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province.
Hong Kong currently does not have any LNG fuel stations although it is "surrounded by a massive, robust LNG supply network and could take advantage of this", the report cited Zhu Jianwen, president of CNOOC Gas and Power Trading and Marketing, as saying.
CNOOC currently supplies power company Hong Kong Electric and gas company Towngas with regasified LNG from its Guangdong Dapeng LNG terminal in Shenzhen via an undersea pipeline.
"Building a refuelling network with wide coverage will be the next stage of the plan. The most important thing for us now is to get a bus running," Zhu was quoted as saying.
He, however, acknowledged that it would be a challenge to bring LNG to Hong Kong as there is currently no legal framework for imports and there needs to be public education on the fuel, according to the report.
Hong Kong utility CLP Holdings had considered building an LNG receiving terminal in Hong Kong to supplement its gas demand, but scrapped the idea in 2008 after the Chinese government agreed to build an extension of the Second West-East gas pipeline from Guangdong to Hong Kong. This pipeline spur started operating in December last year.
