Top Asian oil refiner Sinopec Corp. said Thursday it is in early discussions to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

Sinopec is vying with CNOOC Group, which is leading a race to build a string of LNG terminals along coastal China, as the government aims to boost the country's use of cleaner gas to 8 percent of its energy mix by the end of this decade.

If it goes ahead, Sinopec's terminal would be the second LNG terminal in Guangdong Province. The first is in Shenzhen, which received China's first imported cargo of the super-cooled, compressed gas from Australia's North West Shelf in May.

Sinopec did not specify an investment amount but LNG terminals are often expensive affairs, involving spending of about US$1 billion or more.

"We are still in negotiations with the Macao SAR Government," Sinopec's investors relations executive Huang Wensheng told reporters.

Beijing-based Sinopec had received initial approval to build LNG terminals in Shandong in eastern China.

Editor: Donald