CNPC to Boost Gas Supply in Tibet

Jiang Jiemin, president of China National Gas Corporation (CNPC), said that the corporation would strengthen its gas-supply capacity in Tibet in March 2012. It would send 700,000 cubic meters per day to Lhasa in order to speed up Lhasa's "gasification". It is currently making progress to achieve this goal.

The corporation announced recently that it had signed a cooperation framework agreement about the gas supply with the Tibetan autonomous region's government in Beijing.

The agreement seeks to enhance cooperation. It will ensure gas supply, optimize the energy structure, improve people's lives, protect the ecological environment, and promote economic and socially sustainable development in Tibet. In addition, it is an important part of Lhasa's heating-supply program.

Jiang Jiemin also said the corporation will redouble efforts to carry out the agreement efficiently and take it as an opportunity to exploit the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business.

A chief engineer of CNPC Qinghai Oilfield said that CNPC has launched the Tibetan City Gas Program to promote the region's gas utilization. The program will be carried out in three phases with an investment of 107 million yuan ($17.83 million). The Lhasa gas station, projected to transmit 150,000 cubic meters per day as the first-stage program, consists of a gas storage tank, two gas-filling stations, gasification facilities and city pipe networks. It will receive liquefied natural gas from the CNPC Golmud Gas Plant. (4-traders.com, Edited by Topco)