Construction of China's natural gas storage capacity accelerated 

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and 5 other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Natural Gas Storage Capacity" to further accelerate the construction of gas storage infrastructure and enhance the capacity of natural gas storage.

An official from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that by the end of 2020, gas producers, gas producers and local governments should set targets for storage capacity of 10%, 5% and three days by the amount of gas sold or consumed annually.

First, we will improve the layout of planning and construction and establish a sound standard system. The state issued the annual list of major projects for the construction of gas storage facilities, and all localities issued special plans for the construction of gas storage facilities at the provincial level, so as to avoid the scattered construction and spread of gas storage facilities everywhere. We will guide areas with large peak-valley gap and fast growth in demand to appropriately raise construction targets. Priority will be given to the construction of underground gas storage, LNG receiving stations in northern coastal areas and large-scale LNG storage tanks in key areas. We will encourage existing LNG receiving stations to expand their storage tanks, and encourage urban agglomerations to jointly build and share gas storage facilities to form regional gas storage and peak regulation centers. We will carry out pilot and demonstration projects for multimodal transport of LNG tankers.

Second, establish a sound operation model, improve investment return channels. In principle, underground gas storage facilities should be independently accounted for, professionally managed and marketed. For the independently operated gas storage facilities, the gas storage service price, gas purchase and sales price are all formed by the market.

Third, we will deepen institutional reform and improve the market operating environment. We will accelerate infrastructure connectivity, equity and opening up, connect gas storage facilities to the main pipeline network, and give priority to pipeline transport enterprises to access and ensure transport.

Fourth, strengthen policy support to promote the rapid improvement of gas storage capacity. A number of supporting policies have been put forward from land, fiscal, tax, financial and investment aspects to encourage enterprises to accelerate and make up for the shortcomings in the construction of gas storage infrastructure. (According to the National Development and Reform Commission)