China's major energy firms are boosting natural gas production and imports to ease shortages caused by a cold snap this month.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's leading oil and gas producer, on Wednesday night started operating a natural gas pipeline in western China.

The pipeline, which sends natural gas from the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai province to Xining, capital of Qinghai, will increase CNPC's gas supply in the region by 3 million cu m per day, the company said in a statement yesterday.

CNPC also plans to start importing natural gas from Turkmenistan through the Central Asia pipeline and the second West-East pipeline in mid-January next year, it said.

"Once the project becomes operational, we will increase natural gas supply by almost 1 billion cu m this winter," said the statement.

CNPC's daily supply of gas has reached around 200 million cu m since November. The company's natural gas production and pipeline transmission are at maximum capacity, said Hou Chuangye, deputy general manager of the company's gas and pipeline operations.

To ease the shortage, CNPC will buy at least 700 million cu m of gas in the global spot market, Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said on Dragon TV.

The company will also lease the Shanghai LNG terminal from China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) as part of its strategy to bridge the shortfall. The first imports will equal two cargoes, a company executive said yesterday.

Besides CNPC, the country's two other major oil and gas producers Sinopec and CNOOC are also boosting production to ease the shortage.

During the fourth quarter, Sinopec's daily natural gas production touched a record high of 23.8 million cu m, up 1.8 million cu m from the third quarter, the company said.

The company's Daniudi gas field, a key field in northern China, is now operating at full capacity to meet demand, said Li Deming, an executive at Sinopec's northern China sales operations.

CNOOC is also raising gas production at some fields to help ease the shortage, said a company executive yesterday.

"With these moves, the gas shortage caused by the cold weather can be solved within a short period," said Lin Boqiang, a professor at Xiamen University.