"We are working on an initial study of the Sichuan-Shanghai route, and have not yet decided which route to choose (Sichuan-Shanghai or Sichuan-Shandong)," the official said. The country's National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, China's main economic-planning agency, has directed the company to choose the Sichuan-Shanghai route, to relieve the over-stretched gas supply in Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. At the moment, Shanghai has two existing gas sources: PetroChina's west-east gas pipeline from the Xinjiang region, with a capacity of 1bn cum/yr, and gasfields in the East China Sea with an output of 600m cum/yr. The city still requires at least another 300m cum/yr of gas, according to a report by China Business News in February. In contrast, the NDRC expects the gas supply shortfall in Shandong to be less severe as it has access to several gas sources, including the nearby Zhongyuan field, and Erdos gasfield – via a pipeline from Anping in northern Hebei province to Ji'nan, the capital city of the province. If the Sichuan-Shanghai route is finally accepted, Sinopec may need to largely revise its previous plan.The planned Sichuan-Shandong pipeline route is 1,757km long, via central Henan province, and construction is forecast to cost $ 1.73 billion, according to a report by China Chemical Industry News in May. Sinopec also has plans to supply piped gas to its planned joint-venture LNG terminal in Qingdao city in Shandong; the terminal is a joint project by Sinopec and China Huaneng Group, construction of which is scheduled to start this year and be completed in 2007. If the pipeline route to Shanghai goes ahead, the terminal may have to rely on other gas sources, including Zhongyuan and Erdos.