OREANDA-NEWS. April 08, 2011. PetroChina Co Ltd is slated to start supplying gas from its first liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in eastern China near the end of June, after running its first two cargoes of the super-chilled natural gas.

PetroChina's Rudong terminal in Jiangsu province is due to receive its first LNG cargo, a 145,000-tonne shipment on April 26 and a second of the same size several weeks later, said an industry official with direct knowledge of the project.

"By end of June, the terminal should start pumping gas into the pipelines," said the official who declined to be named as he's not authorised to speak to the media.

Both of the cargoes were secured from the spot market, the official said, without elaborating on where they were sourced.

PetroChina earlier lined up a 25-year pact with Qatar for LNG imports mainly to supply the Rudong terminal.

The Rudong terminal, operated by PetroChina's Kunlun Energy Co Ltd and built and designed by China Huanqiu Engineering & Constructing Co, a CNPC unit, has an annual receiving capacity of 3.5 million tonnes of LNG. It is able to berth shipments from 80,000 to 267,000 tonnes.

PetroChina's second LNG terminal in Dalian is also expected to start up in coming months.