Sinopec Puts Largest Gas Storage Cluster in North China into Operation
Sinopec has invested significantly in the recent years to continuously accelerated the construction of gas storage facilities and continued to improve its gas storage peak shaving capabilities
On 18th October, Sinopecn (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation) announced that the Wei 11 gas storage facility in its Zhongyuan Oilfield region successfully completed its first gas injection on October 18. The Zhongyuan Oilfield region is the largest underground natural gas storage cluster in north China and the occasion marked the beginning of the official production from the cluster.
The gas storage facility has the production capacity of 10.03 billion cubic meters. It would be a strong resource guarantee for gas storage and peak shaving from winter through spring in north China and the Yellow River Basin as well as ensuring a stable gas supply.
Sinopec's Zhongyuan gas storage cluster now has three blocks, the Wen 23, Wen 96 and Wei 11. The Wei 11 gas storage unit is a key component of reaching 10 billion cubic meter gas production capacity from the natural gas storage cluster. The block is located at the junction of Henan and Shandong provinces and has a designed capacity of 1.009 billion cubic meters. The largest daily peak shaving capacity of the Wei 11 gas storage facility is 5 million cubic meters, which can meet the gas demands of 10 million households every day.
Additionally, Sinopec also announced that the its Wen 13 West and Bai 9 gas storage facilities in the Zhongyuan Oilfield region will be ready for trial gas injection by the end of the year, after the completiton of the construction. The two gas storage facilities will add another 1.116 billion cubic meter of capacity. As part of its "14th Five-Year Plan," Sinopec has plans to build multiple gas storages in the Zhongyuan Oilfield area to further enhance the capacity of gas storage and peak shaving.
Sinopec has invested significantly in the recent years to continuously accelerated the construction of gas storage facilities and continued to improve its gas storage peak shaving capabilities. The Wen 96 gas storage, Jintan Salt Cave gas storage, and the Wen 23 gas storage produced 1.42 billion cubic meters of gas during the heating season last year. The Wen 23 gas storage was handed over to the National Pipeline Corporation and was already been put into operation before the handover.
So far in 2021, Sinopec has completed Shandong Yong 21, Zhongyuan Wei 11, Northeast Guxi, and Sichuan Qingxi and other gas storages projects and has actively promoted the expansion of gas storage projects under construction.
