[Haichuan Chemical Salary News] Guanghui Energy’s No. 4 160,000-cubic-meter LNG storage tank in Qidong put into operation
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On June 2, Guanghui Energy Qidong Logistics Company held a ceremony to mark the start of trial production at the 4# LNG storage tank. This tank is the company’s second storage tank with a capacity of 160,000 cubic meters; once in operation, Guanghui Energy’s ability to receive and handle LNG will reach a new level. Over the past few days, senior managers from Guanghui Energy Qidong Logistics Company, along with key employees from departments such as production, equipment engineering, and safety, have been working overtime day and night at the construction site, carefully checking and ensuring that all conditions necessary for the operation of the storage tanks are met. During the drying and purging process of the storage tanks and main pipe galleries, the company conducted dew point analyses at various points in these tanks and galleries to ensure that the drying process was successful, thereby preparing thoroughly for the pre-cooling step prior to filling the tanks with liquid. The storage tank is now ready for trial production, and pre-cooling began on June 3 to ensure the necessary conditions for liquid inflow as well as safe operation in the future. The company stated that once Tank No. 4 at Guanghui Energy Qidong Logistics Company is put into operation, the Guanghui Energy Qidong LNG distribution and transfer station will have a storage capacity of 420,000 cubic meters of LNG. The annual volume of LNG that can be handled will reach 3 million tons, **which will enhance the handling capacity of the port and also mark the beginning of a new phase in Guanghui Energy’s efforts to expand into the eastern market.
It is not easy for a private enterprise to establish a firm foothold in the LNG sector as well.
Xinjiang Guanghui was the first to use mobile LNG to transport natural gas inland
It is mainly LNG from old gas fields in Hami and Jimunai in Xinjiang, which is transported by tank trucks to locations as far away as the Yangtze River Delta and Ningbo.
Recently, the delivery price at a certain Southeastern receiving station dropped below 2,000 yuan per ton; the cost for picking up the goods was only 1,920 yuan per ton – a drastic price cut, which translates to less than 1.4 yuan per cubic meter. The sharp drop in the price of gas has been caused by the plunge in international oil prices coupled with an oversupply of natural gas globally. A decrease in the price of gas sources is certainly beneficial for the development of natural gas utilization in the country. However, this price of less than 1.4 yuan per cubic meter has caused great concern throughout the entire industry chain. For the upstream sector, demand for natural gas from downstream users has been weak this year; in many areas, demand has even declined due to the impact of the pandemic. At the same time, domestic gas production continues to increase, making it very difficult to sell off the pipeline gas supplies. As a result, companies in the upstream sector such as CNPC have kept cutting the prices of pipeline gas, with prices in many areas being reduced all the way to the delivery price at the stations. In addition, some areas have introduced rare large-scale promotional offers with discounts for bulk purchases. Today, even though pipeline gas prices have dropped to rock-bottom levels at the delivery stations, the price of LNG plus shipping costs remains lower than those at the delivery stations in many places, resulting in LNG taking over part of the market once occupied by pipeline gas. Is the upstream industry panicked by this situation?