China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has started to build a major gas storage project in Panjin, in the Liaoning province of China. The 11.5 bcm storage project will be the largest underground gas storage (UGS) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in northeast China. It will be jointly developed by CNPC's susbidiary Liaohe Oilfield and by the Panjin government, and will require a total investment of around CNY 60bn (US$8.5bn). The commissioning date was not specified.
CNPC currently operates most of the gas storage sites in China. In March 2018, the group announced plans to boost its total working gas storage capacity to 15 bcm by 2025, corresponding to around 10% of China’s peak seasonal demand. CNPC plans to develop seven new storage clusters in Shengping, Pingdingshan, Huan An, Chuzhou, Liaohelei 61, Lujuhe and Baiju and will upgrade the existing storage sites by adding compression stations and drilling more wells. In October 2018, the group unveiled plans to build 5 new gas storage sites with a total working capacity of 10 bcm by 2030. Three gas storage sites will be built in Chongqing - 730 mcm in Tongyuxia, 850 mcm in Huangcaoxia and 3.45 bcm in Wanshunchang - and two of 1.85 bcm and 1.05 bcm in Sichuan. Overall, the group aims to develop 23 new gas storage sites and to expand 10 existing ones by 2030 to improve gas supplies during peak demand periods.