China's state-run CNOOC has stepped up supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a province in eastern China in recent weeks to plug an electricty shortfall caused by a power line breakdown, an industry website reported on Tuesday.
CNOOC brought a 69,000-tonne cargo of the super-chilled fuel to its receiving terminal in Zhejiang province on March 11, enough to supply power for a month to a million families, according to a report on the website of state energy firm China National Petroleum Company.
The imports were made to plug a power shortage after an ultra-high voltage power line connecting the western province of Sichuan to Zhejiang broke down at the end of February, the report said.
CNOOC has boosted gas flows from its Zhejiang LNG receiving terminal into the pipeline grid, pumping at a daily rate of 14 million cubic meters versus 7 million cubic meters previousy.
Gas-fired power stations are normaly only used at times of peak demand in Zhejiang province, a wealthy manufacturing hub which still relies on coal for base-load power generation.
CNOOC, parent of offshore oil and gas specialist CNOOC Ltd , is China's leading investor in LNG terminals and its largest importer of the fuel. The report did not say if the LNG cargo represented an additional purchase, or was redirected from another terminal.
