Construction has been suspended at the second phase of the terminal located near Tieshangang port, following the fire accident
PipeChina was formed to hold pipeline assets. (Credit: LEEROY Agency from Pixabay)
A fire break out at the Beihai LNG terminal that is currently under construction in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, has killed five people.
Construction has now been suspended at the second phase of the Beihai LNG terminal located near Tieshangang port.
The terminal is owned and managed by newly established pipeline company PipeChina, formally known as China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network.
The fire accident, which also severely injured three people, occurred on 02 November near the No.2 storage tank of the Beihai LNG terminal second phase. The storage tank is designed to regasify three million tonnes of LNG annually, reported Reuters.
The news agency quoted local government officials as saying in a statement that the accident also led to missing of one person.
PipeChina was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement: “PipeChina has asked the on-site contractor to stop all works and is sparing no effort in the rescue operation.”
First phase of Beihai LNG terminal commissioned in 2016
Commissioned in 2016, the first phase of the terminal has the capacity to handle three million tonnes a year.
PipeChina was formed in December 2019 to hold pipeline assets owned by three Chinese state-owned oil and gas companies.
The newly formed firm engages primarily in pipeline transmission, storage service, imports and exports of technology and equipment, science and technology research, and other activities.
In July 2020, PetroChina and Sinopec have agreed to divest some of their midstream assets in separate deals with PipeChina for a combined sum of about CNY391.4bn ($55.9bn).