NING, Nov. 18, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- PetroChina (PTR.NYSE; 601857.SH), China's leading oil and gas producer, said Wednesday that the Sebei-Xi 'ning-Lanzhou natural gas pipeline is to start formal operation of a n ew parallel line in mid-December with a total transportation capacity of 6 billion cubic meters/year.
The old Sebei-Xi'ning-Lanzhou natural gas pipeline, a single li ne with a total length of 953 kilometers, remains in operation. It was
completed in late 2001 with a designed transportation capacity of 3 b illion cubic meters/year.
The new pipeline, built in parallel with the old pipeline with investment of 3.678 billion yuan, links gas fields in Sebei with Qingh ai province's capital city Xi'ning and Lanzhou, its counterpart in Gan su province.
Hu Wanzhi, a PetroChina official in charge of the pipeline, sai d the streaming of the 945-kilometer-long gas pipeline would provide a n outlet to pipe out the Qaidam Basin's abundant natural gas reserves,
of which an estimated 230 billion cubic meters is recoverable.
He said the pipeline would also serve as reliable source for th e West-to-East natural gas pipeline to fulfill fast-growing downstream
demand. It will also secure the gas supply to Qinghai and Gansu provi nces in the northwestern China.
