China Plans to Build 40,000 Kilometers of Oil, Gas Pipelines in Two

The total length of oil and gas pipelines in China has reached about 60,000 kilometers, and the number is expected to grow to more than 100,000 kilometers by 2010, a senior officer of the National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) Energy Bureau said at the China (International) Oil & Gas Pipeline Summit Forum on September 27, 2007.

Statistics show that total length of oil and gas pipelines nationwide was 48,226 kilometers at the end of 2006, a 62% increase compared with 2002, which had an average annual growth of 12.8%.

After China's energy issue becomes even more widely understood, construction of oil and gas pipelines should greatly accelerate. The commissioning of the West Crude Oil Pipeline, along with the start of construction for other oil and gas pipelines, shows that the industry has entered into a new round of development in China. Several large oil and gas resources have been recently discovered in China, creating opportunities for pipeline construction.

The 4,000-kilometer West to East Gas Pipeline Project, which stretches from Xinjiang to Shanghai, is the longest pipeline system. The pipeline, which went into operation at the end of 2004, passes through seven provinces and regions, and boasts the highest quality of steel that China has ever used for pipelines.

The Sichuan-Shanghai Gas Pipeline Project and several others have begun construction recently.