Work on both eastern and western sections began in July 2002; with the 475 km Jingbian to Shanghai eastern section completed last year.
In a statement the head of PetroChina Natural Gas and Pipeline Operations Huang Weihe said, “The western section of the 4,000 km pipeline will be finished one month ahead of schedule, marking the end of construction. The pipeline will start supplying gas to Shanghai from Jan 1, 2005.”
It is understood the project will cost around US$24.4 billion and will carry 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum from the gas-rich western regions to markets in the east of China.
