CNPC to Go It Alone with W-E Pipeline II

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), parent company of PetroChina, announced on August 27 that it would independently construct the second West-East Pipeline in 2008 to make it come online in 2010.

Experienced in laying pipelines, CNPC said that it is capable of laying W-E pipeline II by itself.

In laying the W-E Pipeline I, CNPC introduced Shell, ExxonMobil and BP as cooperative partners; but, these foreign partners withdrew their capital in the process of the project.

Last week, CNPC unveiled the route of 30-billion-cubic-meter W-E Pipeline II, which is designed to pipe Turkmen gas from Xinjiang to China's most energy-guzzling areas, Guangdong and Shanghai.