A state run Chinese engineering firm will build an underground storage facility for Turkey that is able to hold 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

China Tianchen Engineering Corporation engineers and construction firm specializing in chemical plants and storage facilities will spend 8 years building the gas storage near Turkey's salt lake south of Ankara.

On Tuesday, a ceremony was held in the Turkish capital for the launch of the project which was attended by a Chinese vice minister of commerce and Turkey's energy minister. It didn't provide any financial details.

In China, the oil and gas industry started building gas storage facilities in the past few years to cope with demand fluctuations as consumption of the cleaner fuel surges.

Trade between China and Turkey reached USD 18 billion in the first 9 months of this year and the two nations have set a goal to lift bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2015.

(Sourced from Reuters)