China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec") has officially put China's first and also the world's largest LNG storage tank of 270,000 cubic meters into service on November 2 at its Qingdao LNG Receiving Terminal, according to the company's release. The tank will add 165 million cubic meters of storage capacity to meet the gas demand of 2.16 million households for five months during the winter heating season, which will enhance and guarantee the natural gas supply in North China.
The mega LNG storage tank, independently designed, developed and built by Sinopec, has a diameter of 100.6 meters and a height of 55 meters, a key project of Sinopec Qingdao LNG Receiving Termina's phase III construction. The 270,000-cubic-meter tank adopted 17 patented technologies with independent intellectual property, the main structure was completed in only 18 months and it's in full service within 27 months.
In the construction process, Sinopec has localized the applications of over 20 core equipment that significantly reduced procurement costs and boosted the localization level of the tank to 95 percent, the highest in China.
On the same day, Sinopec's Tianjin LNG Receiving Terminal completed the phase II construction with three 220,000-cubic-meter storage tanks coming into full service, adding over 400 million cubic meters of natural gas storing capacity to bring the total storage capacity of Tianjin terminal to 1.08 billion cubic meters, the largest in China. Sinopec's two LNG terminals in Qingdao and Tianjin, with seven and nine storage tanks respectively, have a total of 1.68 billion cubic meters of storage capacity, further guaranteeing the supply of resources in the winter season.
Sinopec has continued to expand the natural gas storage capacity following a strategic plan covering the full scope of production, supply, storage, and sales, the group now has about 5 billion cubic meters of LNG storage capacity. Sinopec has built 12 natural gas storage depots including the Zhongyuan cluster, Jintan, Wen 96, and Jianghan Yanxue, while it's also expanding the LNG receiving terminals in Tianjin and Qingdao.
Looking ahead, Sinopec aims to build more natural gas storage depots and LNG receiving terminals in China to further strengthen the natural gas storage and peak gas consumption adjustment capabilities and expand LNG storage capacities during its 5-year plan.