China plans to extend its oil and gas pipelines by nearly 60
percent by 2010 in order to meet rising demand for energy,
according to the nation's top pipeline builder.
The oil and gas pipeline industry has experienced its fastest
growth since the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), said Tang
Yali, vice-president of the natural gas and pipeline company under
PetroChina.
"China's oil and gas pipeline industry has increased by 14
percent on average since 1996. Between 2000 and 2005, China has
built more pipelines than it did in all the preceding years," he
said.
China completed its first West-East gas pipeline in 2004. The
pipeline, one of the biggest energy projects in the country,
transmits natural gas from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to
the eastern coast.
As for the second West-East gas pipeline, Tang said the
preliminary study for the project is still being conducted.
"The total investment for the pipeline is projected to cross 100
billion yuan," he said, without giving the timetable for the
project.
The final route for the new pipeline has not been decided, said
Tang, adding that it is likely to connect the gas-rich Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region in the west with south China's Guangdong
Province.
The pipeline is expected to have an annual capacity to transmit
30 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Natural gas output in China increased by 16.9 percent in 2006
over the previous year. The year-on-year growth rate in 2005 was
20.6 percent, according to the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC).
China produced 58.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas last
year. The nation has built over 80,000 km of oil and gas pipelines,
ranking sixth in the world, according to Xue Zhenkui, president of
China Petroleum Pipeline Scientific Research Institute.
(China Daily April 3, 2007)