China to Build E-pipeline for Gas Transmission ProjectChina is planning to build a 4,000-km e-pipeline to transmit natural gas from the western to the east, a senior official in charge of the project said Wednesday.The plan was released by Wu Hong, deputy general manager of the Gas Transmission Pipeline Subsidiary Company of the PetroChina Lubricating Oil Company, at the on-going exhibition of International Petroleum and Petrochemicals. A comprehensive management information system (MIS), which consists of systems for management information, production automation and satellite communication, will be used in the project, Wu said. Under the system, managers and technicians can monitor and control the operation of the pipeline wherever they can access the Internet, he said. They can also detect and locate probable leaks from the pipe with the help of the system, Wu noted. E-commerce will play a very important role in the system that enables gas users to automatically settle accounts, and transfer funds from their banks in accordance with their contracts. Users can order gas and investors can keep a close watch on the latest information concerning the project via the Internet, Wu said. More high and new technology devices will be applied in the pipeline, including remote sensing technology and ultrasonic gas flow-meters, he added. The project to transfer natural gas from west to east is considered a landmark project in China's Western Development strategy and requires a total investment of about 48 billion yuan (5.8 billion US dollars). It is set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year and the whole line, with a transfer capacity of 12 billion cubic meters of gas, will be put into operation in 2004. |
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