China's Dalian Terminal Hits Milestone Late

China's Kunlun Energy’s Dalian LNG import terminal has received its ten millionth metric ton of LNG since the start of commercial operations six years ago, Kunlun’s parent firm CNPC said March 13 – far less than its nameplate capacity would suggest.

The terminal’s latest cargo was delivered on Al Sadd carrier from Qatar, and over its lifetime it has received LNG from 15 countries. The terminal has a loading and unloading capacity of 6mn mt/yr, so it is being used at less than a third of capacity.

In the six years since the Dalian LNG terminal was put into operation, 14bn m³ of regasified LNG have been transported. About 13bn m³ of natural gas were transported to users through the national pipeline network, while the rest was transported through trucks and ships, CNPC said. The gas has been mainly supplied to northeast and north China.

China’s LNG imports have touched record levels in recent months as households and industries have shifted from coal to natural gas. Full year January-December 2017 LNG imports to China were a record 38.13mn mt, up over 46% on the 2016 volume. China was last year the second biggest LNG importer in the world after Japan.