Sinopec to invest $5 B in gas pipeline for new economic zone

7/25/2017

BEIJING (Reuters) — China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) will invest $5.1 B in a gas pipeline project, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Erdos-Anping-Cangzhou pipeline project is designed to connect major LNG storage with Xiongan New Area, China's new economic zone near capital Beijing, with annual transmission capacity of 30 Bcm.

Utilization of 30 Bcm of natural gas will save the equivalent of 60 MMt coal and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 36 MMtpy, the company said.

China has launched a campaign to reduce air pollution in 28 major northern cities, including Beijing and Tianjin.

When launched in 2019, the first stage of the pipeline project will power Xiongan with imported LNG from Tianjin and China's largest underground gas storage in central province Henan.

In the long term, Sinopec plans to promote renewable energy in the coal-rich provinces of Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Shanxi by delivering their coal gas, coal bed gas and conventional gas to consumers in northern China.

The pipeline project has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the company said.

Reporting by Muyu Xu and Beijing Newsroom; editing by Jason Neely