China's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserve, located in Jiangsu province, achieved a cumulative unloading volume exceeding 3.5 billion cubic meters during its first year of operation, with a design load utilization rate of over 80 percent, said its operator China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) on Wednesday.

This sets a record for the highest load utilization rate in the first year of operation for domestic LNG receiving terminals, this ensures the stable supply of natural gas in the East China region, therefore making it an important source of gas to it said.

Located in the Binhai Industrial Park of Yancheng, Jiangsu province, the base includes four 220,000-cubic-meter storage tanks and six of the world's largest 270,000-cubic-meter storage tanks, with a combined capacity of 2.5 million cubic meters. It is the largest LNG storage base in the whole of China.

Currently, four of the 220,000-cubic-meter storage tanks are in operation, supplying natural gas to provinces including Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui, and Shandong through trucks and pipelines. The unloading capacity of 3.5 billion cubic meters can meet the gas demand of approximately 10 million households for about 18 months, it said.

Since its start of operation last year, the base has unloaded a total of 36 shipments of imported LNG, setting a record for the highest number of annual unloads. This has also ensured the natural gas and power supply needs for millions of households, it said.

Currently, construction is underway for the six 270,000-cubic-meter storage tanks, which are scheduled to be fully operational by June of next year.

All ten storage tanks have been designed and constructed using CNOOC's proprietary core technology for ultra-large liquefied natural gas storage tanks, with breakthroughs in several key technologies. This has positioned China at the forefront of the world in terms of design, construction technology, and project management capabilities for ultra-large liquefied natural gas storage tanks, said CNOOC.