LNG terminal to help meet demand

China National Offshore Oil Corp's liquefied natural gas terminal in the southern city of Shenzhen became operational on Wednesday, to help meet China's growing appetite for natural gas as the government sees a growing role for the clean fuel as a major source of energy.

The terminal, with a receiving capacity of 4 million metric tons per year, will be CNOOC's second LNG terminal in Shenzhen and its ninth terminal nationwide.

Analyst said the continuous growth in LNG imports is due to insufficient domestic production and limited pipeline imports, which are unable to satisfy China's growing gas appetite so far.