PetroChina's Kunlun Energy plans to repair Rudong LNG site by Nov -sources

Kunlun Energy

09/10/2019 05:22

SINGAPORE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China's Kunlun Energy Co. Ltd
 0135.HK , a unit of PetroChina Co  601857.SS , plans to finish
repairs at its Rudong liquefied natural gas (LNG) import
terminal by mid-November after an accident last month, said two
company sources on Wednesday.
    Kunlun, which operates PetroChina's LNG receiving terminals,
has cut intake capacity at Rudong, among the three largest
import terminals in China, since Sept. 21, when a tanker
collided into a bridge that connects the island where the
terminal is located to the mainland during a typhoon, said one
of the sources.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25C1NH
    The cuts to Rudong's capacity are occurring just before LNG
importers typically increase their intake ahead of the winter
demand peak to meet the country's heating needs. 
    The terminal sits on a man-made island off Rudong county in
coastal Jiangsu province and can bring in 6.5 million tonnes per
year of LNG.
    The bridge, which carries a gas pipeline linking an onshore
re-gasification facility, was partially damaged, said the
source. 
    "Repairs are under way and should be completed before the
start of the winter heating season," said the second company
source.  
    The company sources declined to be named as they were not
authorised to speak to media. 
    PetroChina did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. 
    Despite the reduced import operations, the company sources
said the terminal was continuing to ship fuel to customers using
LNG trailers.
    PetroChina's trading unit Chinaoil is diverting some of the
LNG meant for the Rudong terminal to its two other receiving
terminals in Tangshan and Dalian, said the first company source.
    Chinaoil is also offering spot cargoes for delivery in
October and November, said two LNG traders, though this could
not immediately be confirmed. 
    Shiptracking data on Refinitiv Eikon shows the last cargo to
Rudong was delivered on Sept. 28 from the Yamal LNG plant in
Russia. 
    The terminal received about 650,000 tonnes of LNG in August,
which was about nearly 13% of China's overall LNG imports.
    LNG volumes into Rudong fell by nearly half to 360,000
tonnes in September, according to the shiptracking data.     
    In 2018, Rudong received a total of 85 LNG tankers totalling
more than 6.5 million tonnes and supplied 9.2 billion cubic
metres to the domestic market in gas form.  

 (Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Jessica Jaganathan; editing by
Christian Schmollinger)
 ((Jessica.Jaganathan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3822; Reuters
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