The West–East Gas Pipeline () is a set of
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
pipelines which run from the western part of
China to the east.
PetroChina Pipelines
PetroChina Pipelines is a subsidiary (72.26%) of
PetroChina that managed the first three pipelines of the project.
West–East Gas Pipeline I
History
The construction of the West–East Gas Pipeline started in 2002. The pipeline was put into trial operation on 1 October 2004, and the full commercial supply of natural gas commenced on 1 January 2005. The pipeline is owned and operated by PetroChina West–East Gas Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of
PetroChina. Originally, it was agreed that PetroChina would have owned 50% of the pipeline, while
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
,
Gazprom, and
ExxonMobil had been slated to hold 15% each, and
Sinopec
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai.
Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec ...
5%. However, in August 2004, the Board of Directors of PetroChina announced that following good faith discussions with all parties to the Joint Venture Framework Agreement, the parties had not been able to reach an agreement, and the joint venture framework agreement was terminated.
[
]
Technical features
The long pipeline runs from
Lunnan
Lunnan is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Randi Lunnan Randi Lunnan (born 1963) is a Norwegian organizational theorist, and Professor at the Department of Strategy of the BI Norwegian Business School, known for her w ...
in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
to
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
.
The pipeline passes through 66 cities in the 10 provinces in
China.
[
] Natural gas transported by the pipeline is used for electricity production in the Yangtze River Delta area. There is a plan to replace coal with gas in Shanghai by 2010.
The capacity of the pipeline is of natural gas annually.
[
] The cost of the pipeline was US$5.7 billion. By the end of 2007, the capacity was planned to be upgraded to . For this purpose, ten new gas compressor stations will be built and eight existing stations are to be upgraded.
[
]
Connections
The West–East Gas Pipeline is connected to the
Shaan-Jing pipeline by three branch pipelines.
[
] The long Ji-Ning branch between the Qingshan Distributing Station and the
Anping Distributing Station became operational on 30 December 2005.
Source of supply
The pipeline is supplied from the
Tarim Basin oil and gas fields in Xinjiang province. The
Changqing gas area in
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
province is a secondary gas source. In the future, the planned
Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline will be connected to the West–East Gas Pipeline.
Starting from 15 September 2009, the pipeline is also supplied with
coalbed methane from the Qinshui Basin in
Shanxi.
[
]
West–East Gas Pipeline II
Construction of the second West–East Gas Pipeline started on 22 February 2008. The pipeline with a total length of , including of the main line and eight sub-lines, will run from
Khorgas
Khorgas, officially known as KorgasThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, '' SinoMaps Press'' 1997); ( zh, s=霍尔果斯, t=霍爾果斯, p=Huò'ěrguǒsī; kk, قورعاس, Qorǵas), also known as ''Chorgos'', ''Gorgos'', ''Horgos ...
in northwestern Xinjiang to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
. Up to
Gansu, it will be parallel and interconnected with the first west-east pipeline. The western part of the pipeline is expected to be commissioned by 2009, and the eastern part by June 2011.
[
]
The capacity of the second pipeline is of natural gas per year. It is mainly supplied by the
Central Asia-China gas pipeline. The pipeline is expected to cost US$20 billion.
[
] The project is developed by China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp. (CNODC), a joint venture of China National Petroleum Corporation and PetroChina.[
]
West–East Gas Pipeline III
Construction of the third pipeline started in October 2012 and it is to be completed by 2015. The third pipeline will run from Horgos in western Xinjiang to Fuzhou in Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
.[
] It will cross Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces.
The total length of the third pipeline is , including trunkline and eight branches. In addition, the project includes three gas storages and a LNG plant
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
. It will have a capacity of of natural gas per year with operating pressure of . The pipeline will be supplied from Central Asia–China gas pipeline's Line C supplemented by supplies from the Tarim basin and coalbed methane in Xinjiang. Compressors for the pipeline are supplied by Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
.[
]
West–East Gas Pipeline IV and V
The fourth pipeline will start from the Tarim Basin or from Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
.[
]
See also
* Sichuan–Shanghai gas pipeline
* Shaan–Jing pipeline
* Zhongxian–Wuhan Pipeline
References
External links
West-East Gas Pipeline project
by china.org.cn
by PetroChina
Second West-East Gas Pipeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:West-East Gas Pipeline
Natural gas pipelines in China