OREANDA-NEWS. September 06, 2011. China reported that Southeastern China Fujian Province boosted liquefied natural gas imports by 67.10%YoY to 1.32 million tons in the first seven months of 2011 due to booming natural gas demand.

LNG imports over the period were worth USD 430 million with import prices averaging USD 322.30 per tonne up by 12.50%YoY. Indonesia accounted for the bulk of Fujian LNG imports with 1.01 million tons shipped in the first seven months up by 66.60%YoY. Yemen ranked second with exports of 135,000 tons up by 110% on an annual basis.

The Fujian provincial branch of the National Development and Reform Commission said Fujian Province has improved its energy mix in recent years by substituting natural gas in place of coal and oil consumption. In addition, Fujian is home to three large natural gas fuelled power plants in the cities of Putian, Jinjiang and Xiamen. The three plants have a combined installed capacity of 3.50 million kilowatts and can generate 14 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

The customs office said rising fuel demand from the three plants also contributed to Fujian surging LNG imports. Putian in Fujian also houses the CNY 6.20 billion Putian LNG Terminal where imported LNG from marine LNG carriers is unloaded.

The terminal is capable of storing 640,000 cubic meters of LNG before distributing it to major cities in the province through a 356 kilomter natural gas pipeline.