The Changqing field will pump gas through the pipeline on 1st October but a trial supply to Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Nanjing and Hangzhou will only begin in November. The network is scheduled to go into full operation on 1st January 2005.
The project is designed to carry natural gas from the Tarim Basin in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Changqing gas field in Shaanxi to the eastern provinces. The estimated cost of the project is US$24.1 billion.
It is estimated that the Changqing gas field is able to produce 4.8 billion cubic metres of gas annually and has an estimated 1.1 trillion cubic metres of reserves - with 751 billion cubic metres of this available for exploitation. Tarim Basin - the main source of the gas - has an estimated reserves of around 545.7 billion cubic metres with 390.6 billion already available for use.
The western section of the pipeline, linking the Tarim Basin with the eastern provinces, is still under construction.
