HK's Towngas Expands Across China
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company, also known as Towngas, on August 21 reported an interim net profit during January-June (1H2018) of HK$4.79bn ($610mn), up 7% year over year.
Net profit was boosted by hike in retail and commercial gas demand.
“Favourable overall employment conditions and growth in the number of inbound visitors helped gas business development in the restaurant and hotel sectors. Additionally, as the average temperature in Hong Kong during the first quarter of 2018 was lower than the same period last year, residential gas sales increased,” Towngas said. Commercial and industrial gas sales also saw significant growth thanks to the development of new projects in the market and a rebound of oil prices.
Expanding in mainland China, developing storage
Towngas has managed to increase its footprint in mainland China with total number of projects at the end of 1H2018 at 251, six more than at the end of 2017. These projects are spread across 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and encompass upstream and midstream gas sectors, plus downstream gas, water and telecom utility sectors. It remarked: "Diversification and an increase in the number of projects have gradually transformed the group from a locally-based company in Hong Kong centred on a single town gas business a number of years ago into a sizeable, nationwide... business."
Towngas has 132 city-gas businesses in mainland China and their total gas sales volume in 1H2018 was 11.47bn m3, up 18% year on year, with 26.47mn mainland gas customers at end-June 2018, up 10%.
Its underground salt cavern gas storage facility in Jintan district, Changzhou city in China’s Jiangsu province is progressing in phases. Once fully built, it will be able to store 0.44bn m3 and be the first of its kind built in mainland China by a city-gas enterprise. Construction of phase one (0.14bn m3) of this project was completed January 2018, filled with gas via the West-East pipeline in late June 2018, and will be commissioned during this coming winter.
Construction of phase two, to develop the extra 0.3bn m3 storage capacity, began late March 2018. The company said it will help regulate supplies during the peak winter period to its city-gas projects in eastern China and that, in the longer term, there are plans to supply gas from this facility to the group's city-gas projects in other regions through interconnected upstream pipeline networks.