OREANDA-NEWS. October 02, 2014. Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp will start trial operations at its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by the end of October, a company representative said.

The 3-million-tonne-per-year (tpy) terminal in Qingdao city in eastern Shandong province is expected to receive its first LNG cargo by the end of next month, the representative said without specifying where the cargo will come from. Sinopec signed a deal in 2009 to buy 2 million tonnes a year of LNG for 20 years from ExxonMobil Corp's Papua New Guinea project.

China now has 10 LNG terminals running, most of which are operated by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and PetroChina. Growth in Chinese gas demand is expected to fall to its lowest level in three years in 2014 and dip again next year due to a slowing economy and an ill-timed rise in prices.