China begun building $1 billion natural gas import and storage base

China has begun building a $1 billion natural gas import and storage base in the southern coastal province of Guangdong, reported Reuters. Meanwhile, U.S. energy major ExxonMobil is advancing discussion with partners for a joint investment in the project.

"ExxonMobil is progressing project discussions with potential partners," a Beijing-based company representative said, without giving further details, told Reuters.

Xinhua news agency, the official source on China,  reported on Saturday that Guangdong began constructing the terminal and wants to start operating the import facility by the end of 2023.

The new terminal, which is situated at Huidong county of Huizhou city, has a capacity of 4 million tonnes under phase-one investment estimated to cost 6.636 billion yuan ($1.02 billion), the agency said.