(EnergyAsia, August 21 2014, Thursday) — China National Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, has started up its seventh terminal on Hainan Island with the receipt of a first cargo from Qatargas on August 7.

Qatar’s state-owned firm said it delivered the cargo on its super-size Q-Max class vessel Rasheeda, which has a carrying capacity of 266,000 cubic metres.

The Hainan terminal will start off with a receiving capacity of three million tonnes/year, adding to CNOOC’s six terminals in Shanghai and Tianjin and the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. The company imported 13 million tonnes of LNG last year, making it the world’s third largest buyer of the fuel.

Describing it as “an important milestone for Qatargas”, CEO Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani said it is the third time that his company has supplied a cargo for the commissioning of a CNOOC LNG-receiving terminal.

The two companies signed an agreement in 2008 for Qatargas to supply two million tonnes of LNG per year, with CNOOC importing the first cargo into China in October 2009.

Established in 1984, Qatargas is the world’s largest LNG producing company with a capacity of 42 million tonnes/year. RasGas, the emirate’s other LNG company, has a capacity of 35 million t/y.