The nation's dominant
offshore oil operator has completed its first long-distance onshore
pipeline to carry gas to south China's island province of Hainan,
it was announced yesterday.?The US$48 million trunkline snakes
247 kilometers to link the Dongfang 1-1 field with eight counties
in western Hainan and Haikou, capital of the island province.
The project will cash in
on the rich reserves in Dongfang, which is about 100 kilometers off
the island. It also lays the foundation for the China National
Offshore Oil Corp's (CNOOC) strategy to build a natural gas network
along China's coastline.
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The company said
yesterday the pipeline is expected to deliver 800 million cubic
meters of natural gas a year in the initial phase.
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About 700 million cubic
meters will be transported to a power plant and industrial users in
an economic development zone in the island's Yangpu area. Another 1
million cubic meters will be supplied to Yangpu and neighboring
Haikou for civil use.
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CNOOC Gas and Power Co
Ltd, a subsidiary of the offshore oil corporation, holds 70 per
cent of ownership over the pipeline, while the Hainan Fuel Chemical
Corp controls the remainder.
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Construction of the gas
link started in October and was completed two months ahead of
schedule, the corporation said.
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The Dongfang field has
99.7 billion cubic meters of proven gas reserves.
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It also supplies the
second phase of the Hainan Fudao Fertilizer Plant, which has an
annual capacity of 800,000 tons of synthetic ammonia.
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(China Daily August 13, 2003)