OREANDA-NEWS. September 19, 2012. PetroChina Co (NYSE: PTR, SHA: 601857, HKG: 0857) has begun building a gas storage facility at the Changqing oilfield, capitalizing on some obsolete blocks, said Li Anqi, vice president of PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Co.

The project is expected to store 12 billion m3 of gas once operational, becoming the nation's biggest gas storage facility. Currently PetroChina has two gas storage sites capable of holding just two billion m3 of gas, less than 3% of its annual gas sales.

The company aims to operate 10 gas storage facilities with a total capacity of 22.4 billion m3, which is equivalent to 8% to 10% of its annual gas sales.