China Formulates Initial Plan on West-East Gas PipelineChina has formulated a plan for a 4,000-kilometer pipeline project which will transport natural gas from western China to the Yangtze River delta region.Ma Fucai, president of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said the natural gas will be transported from Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, Qaidam Basin in Qinghai and Erdos Basin through the pipeline to the Yangtze River Delta region. In a report to the International Conference on Engineering and Technologies (ICETS), construction of the pipeline will start in 2001 and finish in 2004. The pipeline is expected to start from Tarim Basin and end at Shanghai, which crosses through nine provinces and regions from the west to the east, totaling about 4,000 kilometers in length. The project will supply gas mainly to Yangtze Delta region and other provinces along the pipeline, such as the provinces of Gansu,Shannxi, Henan and Anhui, according to the report. "As estimated, the demand for natural gas could reach 12.1 billion cubic meters by 2005." China is considering flexible policies for the construction of the pipeline, according to the report. "The project is fully open to foreign equity investment in gas development, pipeline and distribution network construction." For this project, foreign partners can be the majority shareholder without limitation on equity proportion, said the president. The government gives preferential policies on mineral exploration and development through royalty reduction and exemption, custom duty-free on imported equipment. Special cases for special processing is adopted for land acquisition as a way to improve efficiency. The total proven gas reserves of 360.9 billion cubic meters in the six gas fields are adequate enough to establish an annual gas production capacity of 14 billion cubic meters, Ma said. Based on current explorations, it is verified to add 360 billion cubic meters in the next five years and the proven reserves will exceed 1 trillion cubic meters by year 2010, he said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |