Natural gas from northwest China is expected to hit Shanghai today via a 4,200-kilometer pipeline from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The gas from the West-East Pipeline project, originated from Xinjiang, signals the start of the landmark gas project.
"The natural gas (from Xinjiang) is heading toward Shanghai and will reach the city tomorrow," said Zhao Yongxin, a PetroChina Co Ltd employee working in a gas station in Qingpu District.
"We are now preparing for receiving the gas."
The gas station is the first stop in the city to welcome the fuel.
"What counts most is that the advent of the gas symbolize the successful operation of the whole project," Zhao said.
The xinjiang gas started its journey in early September.
The pipeline is scheduled to start a trial run today and will be in full commercial operation on January 1.
Petrochina, the country's biggest oil firm, is the main sponsor of the US$5.2 billion project. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, was a minority investor. Foreign investors, including OAO Gazprom, Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Exxon Mobil Corp, withdrew from the project.
It's not the first time for the city to herald the gas. Shanghai began to use natural gas from a 1,485-kilometer eastern sector of the project from a Changqing gas field in Shaanxi Province in January.
The eastern sector of the pipeline supplied more than 500 million cubic meters of natural gas to Shanghai, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces until early August, according to earlier media reports.
The city is endeavoring to cut its use of coal and boost consumption of cleaner-burning fuels such as natural gas.
Shanghai currently uses natural gas from a Pinghu gas field located in the East China Sea and from the Changqing gas field through the pipeline.