PetroChina to build 3rd west-east gas pipeline

Sep. 9, 2008 (China Knowledge) - PetroChina<601857><857><PTR>, the nation's top oil producer, is reportedly considering building the third natural gas pipeline from the country's west to the east to meet the growing demand for the fuel in the affluent coastal regions, said sources.

The planned west-east pipeline is likely to start from Xinjiang region in the west and end at Fujian province, the report said, citing Yang Jianhong, vice director of a pipeline planning institute under the company, as saying. Yang noted that the first and second west-east gas pipelines may not be able to meet China's surging demand for the fuel, which is expected to account for 5.3% of the country's total primary energy consumption in 2010.

PetroChina may reveal the preliminary plan as early as the first quarter of next year.

Gas for the pipeline may be sourced from domestic fields or Russia, said Yang, adding the company does not rule out the possibility to build the fourth and more gas pipelines, if the gas sources were ensured.

China commissioned the first west-east gas pipeline in 2004 and is building the second one, which is due to come on stream in 2010.