PetroChina Starts 337-km Gas Pipeline

PetroChina November 27 put into operation the 377-km long Zhongwei-Jingbian natural gas pipeline, which is part of the third phase of the West-East natural gas pipeline, CNPC said November 4.

The pipeline has the capacity to carry 30bn m³/yr of natural gas and will transport gas from central Asia and Xinjiang province to the northern part of China. The contact line of Zhongjing starts from Zhongwei compressor station of West-East gas pipeline, passing through cities in Ningxia province and ending at Jingbian compressor station in Shanxi province.

The West-East gas pipeline is managed by PetroChina, the listed arm of CNPC.

China’s gas demand has seen a significant surge this year as government promotes household and industries to switch from coal to gas. For January-October, total gas imported stood at 54.16mn mt expressed in terms of LNG equivalent, up 25% year on year, according to the country’s statistics bureau; other sources show higher percentage increases year on year. These figures are already higher than the total imports in the whole of 2016 (54mn mt).