The city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province hosts the 17th U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum on Nov 15-16. [Photo/nea.gov.cn]

The 17th U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum (OGIF) was held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on Nov 15-16.

Jointly organized by China's National Energy Administration, United States Department of Energy (DOE) and United States Department of Commerce, the forum invited government officials and companies from both countries to have exchanges on new opportunities for Sino-American cooperation in oil and gas industry.

Facilitating the trade of oil is the primary task for China (Zhejiang) Free Trade Zone (FTZ) which was established in April this year. Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is China's largest import and export portal of oil and gas products, providing great opportunities for Ningbo to develop the industry.

According to Zhejiang's energy administration, Ningbo is the only city that has a liquefied natural gas (LNG) pier and reception facilities in today's Zhejiang. In the future, there will be three more LNG piers in the cities of Zhoushan, Wenzhou and Taizhou.

Li Fanrong, deputy director of the National Energy Administration explained the reason why the organizing committee chose Ningbo to host this year's OGIF was the convenience for attendees to visit the ports and facilities in the city.

Rob Smith, acting deputy assistant secretary for oil and natural gas at U.S. DOE appreciated the visit to the Ningbo facilities. Though it was his first time in Zhejiang, he gained quite a lot of knowledge regarding Zhejiang FTZ.

The OGIF, initiated in 1997, is a cooperative effort of the Chinese and American governments. It provides a platform for the two countries to explore solutions to existing problems and promotes bilateral collaboration when focusing on the outlook and trends for oil and gas industry.