Second gas pipeline to link east and west

Plans for a second gas pipeline connecting China’s resource-rich west with its energy-hungry east, as well as another overland link to import gas from other countries, have been submitted to the National People’s Congress for approval, the Standard of Hong Kong reported. The first gas pipeline, a 4,000-kilometer link between Xinjiang with Shanghai, was built by PetroChina with help from international groups including Royal Dutch/Shell, Exxon Mobil and Russian firm Gazprom. It was one of the largest infrastructure projects featured in China’s 10th Five Year Plan from 2001 to 2005. PetroChina said last year that it plans to invest more than US$12 billion in building 150,000 km of pipelines, half of which will carry natural gas.