CNPC begins $1.3b fertilizer and natural gas projects

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) began two projects in Xinjiang worth a combined US$1.3 billion, state media reported. CNPC plans to start a US$426 million fertilizer project in Korla city, in which it hopes to use natural gas to produce fertilizer. The state-owned firm will also construct a 2,500 kilometer long gas network across the province, consisting of six main pipelines and six sub-pipelines. The network is projected to come online in 2012 and will cost US$911 million. The conglomerate also hopes to double its oil and gas production in the Tarim Basin area by 2020.