CNOOC Ltd plans to expand its LNG business in China. In order to meet the demand in green energy, CNOOC will further increase imports of LNG. The annual import volume will be doubled to 30 million metric tons by 2020, according to CNOOC.

In March 2010, CNOOC signed a purchase contract valued at nearly USD 40 billion with British Gas, a subsidiary of Centrica plc, to annually import 3.6 million metric tons of LNG from British Gas' LNG project in Australia for a period of 20 years.

Prior to the signing of the recent contract, CNOOC had secured supply contracts with foreign partners for the import of about 16 million metric tons of LNG every year, equivalent to about 22 billion cum of natural gas, to cities in mainland China for 25 years. So far, CNOOC has three LNG terminals. These are located in Shenzhen City of Guangdong province, Putian City of Fujian province, and Shanghai. Two LNG terminals are under construction in Ningbo City in the Zhejiang province and Zhuhai City in the Guangdong province.

As a result of the increasing demand on imported LNG, more LNG terminals have been planned by CNOOC in the coastal regions of China, including LNG projects in Shantou in the Guangdong province; Hainan, Wenzhou City in the Zhejiang province; Yancheng City in the Jiangsu province; and Qinhuangdao city in the Hebei province. Three of these are expected to receive approval for construction by the end of this year.