China proposes construction of second west-east gas pipeline
12/3/2006 11:20
China is planning to build another natural gas pipeline from the
energy-rich West to the energy-thirsty East in the coming five years from 2006
to 2010.
The proposal was raised in the draft of Guidelines for the Eleventh
Five-Year Development Plan for National Economic and Social Development
(2006-2010) submitted for examination and approval by the ongoing Fourth Session
of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).
Still in feasibility research
stage, there is no timetable yet for its construction, said Li Runsheng,
spokesman of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's largest
natural gas producer.
Whether or when it will be constructed depends on
supply and demand in China's natural gas market, he said.
The unbalanced
distribution of natural gas resources is outstanding in the country, said Tang
Yali, vice president of the Natural Gas and Pipeline Company under
PetroChina.
East and Central China are experiencing rapid economic growth but
also suffering shortage of energy.
Zhang Guobao, Vice Chairman of the
National Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), said that China will increase
its investment in the exploration of oil and gas resources of the Tarim Basin in
Northwest China.
Huge gas reserves in China's West as well as increasing
energy cooperation with the bordering countries make it feasible to build
another west-to-east gas transmission pipeline, said Zhang.
An official with
the CNPC said that the length, cost and the route of the new pipeline have not
yet been decided.
But he said that the diameter of the second pipeline would
be wider than that of the first west-east gas pipeline, which would demand much
higher cost that the investment of 46 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion) for the
first one, he said.
China plans to raise the ratio of natural gas in its
total energy consumption to about 8 percent to 10 percent by 2010, instead of
the existing 3 percent to 5 percent.
The first massive project to pipe
natural gas from the west to the east was put into commercial operation at the
end of 2004, starting from the Tarim Basin of Northwest China's Xinjiang and
arriving in East China's Shanghai.
The pipeline extending 4,000 km traverses
10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, with designed annual gas
transmission capacity of 12 billion cubic meters, which can ensure a stable gas
supply of 30 years.
Xinhua News
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