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China to Increase Natural Gas Production, Consumption: CNPC Chief
Ma Fucai, president of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), told a meeting Friday that China is adopting measures to speed natural gas production and consumption.
In a report to the International Conference on Engineering and Technologies (ICETS), Ma said China has possessed sufficient resource, market and technical basis for sustainable development of the country's natural gas industry.
The report said that by the end of 1999, the cumulative proven gas reserves in place amounted to 2161.4 billion cubic meters.
Demand for natural gas in eastern and coastal areas of the country is increasingly due to rising purchasing power and the demand for cleaner energy to control air pollution.
The integration of resources and market will generate considerable social and economic benefits," Ma said.
Under China's development targets for the gas industry, China is to intensify gas exploration activities, accelerate pipeline construction and explore the gas market by increasing gas output and imports, said Ma.
"Today and in the near future, the focus for onshore gas development will be accelerating exploration in the natural gas producing areas ing Tarim, Odors, Qaidam and Sichuan, and transporting natural gas from Sichuan to Hunan and Hubei provinces by building Zhongxian-Wuhan gas pipeline," Ma said.
"The west-east natural gas pipeline project is of great significance to accelerating the development of the gas industry of the country, and improving the energy mix and the urban environment," said he.
The project is designed to transport the gas from Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, Qaidam Basin in Qinghai and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region through pipelines to the Yangtze River Delta.
He also revealed that China is considering adjusting its pricing system for natural gas in a bid to facilitate financing for gas exploration and proven projects.
"To meet the demand of China's economic growth and to speed up improvement of the energy framework, we are considering to import gas by flexible means to ensure a long-term, stable gas supply," Ma said.
Endorsed by the Washington-based Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), ICETS is an academic meeting for members of CAETS, and is the largest and highest-ranking international meeting of its kind ever held in China.
A total of 2,200 engineering experts are attending the conference.
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