Energy "Expressway": West-East Natural Gas Transmission

The West-East Gas Pipeline is a large artery transporting China's natural gas resources. It undertakes the task of coordinating the unbalanced development between Eastern China and Western China and to the transporting of natural gas resources from the west to the east so as to ensure thesustainable development of resources and of the environment in China. It is an energy corridor stretching from Eastern China to Western China. Its construction not only reflects China's disposition and determination, but also represents China's comprehensive national strength.This book leads you to an understanding of the West-East Gas Pipeline and of how this "dragon" lurking in the underground can boost China's economy. 

China is on the road to great national rejuvenation and is heading in a clear development direction. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China suggested that China should “carry out an innovation-driven development strategy”, “stick to the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics”, and “pool the wisdom and strength of the whole of society and concentrate on innovation and development”. In the future, “made in China” will give way to “created in China”, and the creation will be recognized worldwide. In the process of its development, China will draw lessons from foreign advanced technology, but more importantly, it should rely on its own efforts. This series of books timely reflects positive social achievements of China in various fields with regard to current social development trends, especially projects, enterprises and events which feature a creative spirit and creativity, and strives to interpret the most representative and latest creative achievements of China in a comprehensive and complete manner. This series consists of six books: Centennial Hydraulic Project: South-North Water Diversion, Speeding Ahead: China’s Rapid Transit Railways, Seabed Wonder: Xiamen Xiang’an Tunnel, Energy “Expressway”: West-East Natural Gas Transmission, China’s Journey to Space: From Dream to Reality and Feeding a Nation: China’s Innovative Agriculture.

This book introduces the West-East Gas pipeline withfive chapters including: Chapter I - Distribution of Natural Gas Resources in China and Decision-making of the WEPP; Chapter II - West-East Gas Pipeline Construction Site; Chapter III - Protection of the Ecological Environment and Cultural Relics during the WEPP Construction; Chapter IV - Ensuringa New Balance between Energy Supply and Demand; Chapter V - Outlook of the Utilization of China Oil and Gas Resources. The content is rich and the key issues and figures are emphasized, with all points and aspects displayed using both pictures and text. 

Liu Jing, China National Geographic magazine editor

Contents

Foreword

Distribution of Natural Gas Resources in China and Decision-making of the WEPP

West-East Gas Pipeline Construction Site

Protection of the Ecological Environment and Cultural Relics during the WEPP Construction

Ensuring a New Balance between Energy Supply and Demand

Outlook of the Utilization of China's Oil and Gas Resources

New Energy Pushes  Economic Development

Since the beginning of construction, the WEPP has brought positive influences to economic and social development in western and eastern China. As commercial gas supply is carried out, the influences felt will be more profound.

Zhengzhou Gas Co., Ltd. in Henan Province has focused on city gas use and commercial gas use and has also developed vehicle-use natural gas. Before "western gas" came, the government wanted to make reforms but failed with "much try and little done"; now as "western gas" has arrived, the government has been determined to make full use of natural gas.

In the office of the General Manager of Zhengzhou Gas Co., Ltd, there was a Zhengzhou Gas Planning and Development Map hanging on the wall, on which there was an eye-catching line circled around the outer ring of Zhengzhou City. This was the target pipe network in Zhengzhou. In 2003, Zhenghzou implemented the "two stations, one line" project, a supporting project of the WEPP as well as the channel for transmitting western gas to Zhengzhou. The high-pressure natural gas from the west-east gas pipeline was directly transmitted to the newlybuilt high-voltage city ring after dust removal, filtration and metering in gate stations, and then to Zhengzhou City for natural gas supply. The Gas Corporation planned to construct the ring within five years at the speed of 20 km per year and aimed firmly control the market.

After official operation began for this huge energy artery of the west-east gas pipeline across the whole country, the development potential of various industries including natural gas processing, petrochemicals, building materials, steel, civil installation and machinery and electronics has been stimulated, thus forming a new economic growth belt.

The WEPP has not only brought clean and efficient energy to eastern coastal areas, but has also led to a new strategic positioning for natural gas and stimulated local markets. For instance, Hudong-Zhong Shipping Co., Ltd. possessed an order for five LNG transport vessels which provided services directly to Guangdong and Fujian LNG projects already under construction. The average sale price of these vessels was 160 million USD, almost three times that of other tankers of the same class. Except Guangdong and Fujian, almost all eastern coastal areas including Shanghai are planning to import LNG. Faced with such a huge potential market, the Shanghai shipbuilding industry can be said to have the upper hand...

Foreword

From the point when the dragon totem appeared in the land of China, Chinese people began to call themselves the "descendants of the dragon". In fact, "dragon" refers to a mixture of multiple idols worshipped by Chinese people. The dragon totem was created by an ancient tribal leader who combined all the totem characters of the tribes that he had conquered. Hence, the dragon symbolizes "integration" and "unity".

After thousands of years, the message of the dragon totem is still strongly imprinted on Chinese people. This long, winding picture of a creature full of life has always been at the forefront of Chinese people's minds. At the beginning of the 21st century, a huge project was undertaken in China which people associated with the image of "dragon".

However, this is not the first time that Chinese people have attributed the dragon image to something. There have previously established a concept of the "two dragons" of China. One is the Yellow River, the mother river of the Chinese nation. The other is the Great Wall, the ultimate man-made structure and a symbol of the Chinese people's awareness of defending their territory. These "two dragons" are world renowned attracting great admiration and to some extent, represent the image of China. However, why now are people exclaiming that a new modern project is the "third dragon of China"? Is it simply because of its dragon-shaped appearance?

From the map, we can see a steel pipe with a diameter of 1.016 m heading east from Lunnan Oil Field in Tarim Basin in China's western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hong Kong. The steel pipe composing  the trunk lines and branch lines of tier-1 and tier-2 projects plus offshore pipelines is up to 15,000 km in length with a broad range of pipe radiation, a huge scale of construction and a benefit to over 400 million people. It is an infrastructure project that benefits vast numbers of the population...