(Yicai Global) Feb. 2 -- State-run energy giant China Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC) officially opened its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in China's central coastal city of Tianjin today. The facility can supply the gas demand of 10 million households.

The project has gained total investment of CNY13.6 billion (USD2.2 billion). Its first phase will achieve an annual receiving capacity of 3 million tons of LNG and turn this into 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas. SINOPEC is also pushing the project's second phase, state Xinhua News Agency reported.

Natural gas for the project flows north from Zouping in Shandong province, south from Tangshan in Hebei, and east from Yanshan and Tongzhou in Beijing, a project leader explained.

Tianjin has two LNG projects with an annual processing capacity of 5.2 million tons, the other of which came into operation under the management of major state-run energy producer China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) earlier this year. Both are working hard to implement the second-phase project in Tianjin. When completed, their projects will make this city directly under the central government the largest LNG pooling area in North China.