The company has earmarked 2005 by which it hoped to supply the province with around 1 billion cubic metres of gas per year from the Daniudi fields, which contain around 118 cubic metres of proven gas reserves, to a possible 3 billion cubic metres by 2020.
Sinopec is currently conducting a trial run by supplying gas to a glass-making plant in Hanggin Banner (southern inner Mongolia), via a 138 km, US$24 million pipeline that can deliver up to 200 million cubic metres of gas annually.
An official from Sinopec Huabei Branch Company confirmed that, "We will certainly begin development [in Daniudi] on a much larger scale after the trial. What we are thinking about now is Shandong Province."
As part of these plans, Sinopec is proposing the construction of an 850km pipeline to connect Daniudi to the province. Plans and proposals will be submitted soon to the China central government for approval.
