BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- China's first shipment of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived from Australia at the LNG terminal in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday.

    The 60,000-ton cargo came from the Northwest shelf of Australia, said a source with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China's largest offshore oil and gas producer and the project's largest shareholder.

    The terminal in Shenzhen city will be connected to a trunkline for distribution. The project is scheduled to begin operation in June.

    Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company Limited will construct and operate the project, which has 11 foreign and domestic shareholders, including CNOOC with 33 percent and BP with 30 percent.

    Northwest Shelf Australia LNG venture project will supply 3.7 million tons of LNG annually to the terminal under a 25-year contract.

    Phase one of the project has been completed at a cost of 7.1 billion yuan (887.5 million US dollars).

    Besides the terminal and trunkline, phase one also comprises four gas-fired power plants, two Hong Kong user projects, one oil-to-gas conversion project, four city gas pipeline networks, an LNG transportation project and an LNG carrier construction project.

    A CNOOC statement said 65 percent of the LNG would be used for power generation and the other 35 percent was allocated to domestic users in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, and Foshan cities of Guangdong, and Hong Kong.

    The project was expected to change China's energy supply and consumption structure, which had been based mainly on coal, said experts.

    The second shipment is due to arrive on June 27, said CNOOC.

    The government plans to build 10 or 11 LNG terminals by 2010, increasing imports to 30 million tons in the year. Enditem