Asia is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world and is continually building and proposing new pipelines to develop its resources.

Due to the humid and tropical conditions of the many Asian countries, pipeline construction contractors are often faced with challenging terrain such as swamp and marsh. Specialised amphibious equipment can float in water and is designed with low ground pressure so that it is able to cross bogland, mud and swamp without leaving deep tracks. This means the machinery and equipment can manoeuvre in marsh and swamp areas with minimal disruption to the terrain.

Another type of terrain typical to the region is jungle and rainforest. Challenges posed by this kind of terrain include difficult access, narrower right-of-ways and heavy rainfall disrupting construction work.

China has many resource-rich areas and pipeline infrastructure has been established to distribute product throughout the country. Major pipelines which have been established in China include the 6,300 km Turkmenistan – China Gas Pipeline, the 4,000 km West – East Gas Pipeline, and the Kazakhstan – China Oil Pipeline, which is over 3,000 km long.

In South East Asia, ten nations – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – have formed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and implemented a program called Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline, which involves the construction of approximately 7,000 km of transmissions pipeline to interconnect the gas pipeline infrastructure of ASEAN member states.

India has onshore natural gas fields in Assam, Andhra, Pradesh and Gujarat, but mostly produces gas from its western offshore area. It has both domestic and international gas pipelines, such as the 1,370 km Dabhol – Bangalore Natural Gas Pipeline and the 1,700 km Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India Pipeline.

Nearby, Australia fosters a large number of domestic natural gas transmission lines. The country is also developing various LNG projects, which include pipelines that connect gas fields to LNG plants for export to China and other countries.

Some of the major pipeline owners and operators in Asia include PetroChina, Petronas and GAIL.

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