CHINA has launched a new gas pipeline to run from SW Sichuan to coastal Shanghai to fuel the booming but energy-insufficient East following its ambitious West-East gas project. The new 1,700-km pipeline is expected to transport 12bn cum/yr from the Puguang field in Sichuan Province to the central and eastern regions that include Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai. Addressing the launching ceremony, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said the project will serve as another “energy artery” for the country in addition to the West-East gas pipeline, which runs more than 4,000km from NW Xinjiang to Shanghai and began operation in 2004. Mr Zeng said the project offers an opportunity for the country’s west, which boasts rich resources but lags far behind the east in economic growth, to tap its advantage in resources for development.
If the it proceeds on time the project, with an investment of US$8.25 billion, will start operation at the beginning of 2010, according to Chen Deming, vice minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). When it is completed, the clean energy resource is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emission by tens of millions of tons annually, Mr Chen said.
Proven reserves of the Puguang gasfield may reach 430bn cum by the end of this year, said He Shenghou, an official with the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec). China’s proven reserve of natural gas has now reached 2.66 trillion cum.
