2006 sees rapid growth in oil and gas pipeline construction

SteelOrbis Shanghai Due to the brisk demand worldwide for energy, global pipeline construction saw rapid growth last year. The total length of oil and gas pipelines either under construction or planned exceeded 70,000 (112,650 km) miles, up 15,600 miles (25,105 km) year on year. Asian-Pacific countries constituted well over one third of this total. In 2006, the total global length of pipelines, either under construction or else in the planning stage, reached 70,421 miles (113,330 km). Of this figure, North and Central America accounted for 11,438 miles (18,407 km), West Europe and the EU registered 1,183 miles (1,903 km), Africa 9,144 miles (14,715 km), the Middle East 6,645 miles (10,694 km), Eastern Europe 14,462 miles (23,274 km), while Asian-Pacific countries accounted for 26,849 miles (39,990 km). In accordance with China's “Eleventh Five-Year” Plan, the targeted length of oil and gas pipelines in the country has been set at above 100,000 miles (160,934 km). At the end of 2006, total pipeline length in China stood at just over 40,000 miles (64,373 km).