A ceremony marking the start of construction of the third phase of China’s West-East Natural Gas Transmission Project was held in Beijing on Tuesday, October 16, according to Chinese media reports. Zhang Ping, the head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Jiang Jiemin, the president of PetroChina Co., and Xu Leijiang, the president of Chinese steelmaker Baosteel, were among those who attended the ceremony.
The construction of the West-East natural gas pipeline project-phase 3, which will cost a total investment of RMB 116 billion ($18.3 billion), is expected to be completed by 2015. The total length of the third phase pipeline will be 7,378 km, while it is expected to transport 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from northwestern to southeastern China.
Construction began on October 16 both in China’s northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region and in the southeastern province of Fujian, where the two ends of the third phase pipeline are located.
On May 30 this year, PetroChina Co., Baosteel, China’s National Social Security Fund and Urban Infrastructure Industry Investment Fund signed an agreement to invest RMB 62.5 billion ($9.9 billion) in a joint venture for the construction of the third phase of the project. Accordingly, PetroChina holds a 52 percent stake, while Baosteel, the National Social Security Fund and the Urban Infrastructure Industry Investment Fund each hold 16 percent stakes.