SHANGHAI (XFN-ASIA) - China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Ltd plans to put the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier built in China into operation by the end of this year, serving Guangdong Dapeng LNG Co, an official of China LNG said.
The deputy general manager of China LNG, Xu Jianping, told a forum here that at present Australian shippers carried Australian LNG to Guangdong Dapeng LNG's terminal in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Guangdong Dapeng LNG Co Ltd is a 29.1 bln yuan joint venture between a consortium of Chinese firms and BP PLC.
Xu said China LNG would also build carriers for CNOOC Ltd's LNG terminals in the eastern province of Fujian and in Shanghai, which are expected to be operational in 2009
Xu said China needed 25-30 LNG carriers by 2020, with the country's natural gas consumption growing sharply and projected to be 200-240 bln cubic meters by then. Last year, China consumed 55.6 bln cubic meters.
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