Sinopec, China Gas to Develop Gas Infrastructure in Nanjing

Great Wall Gas, a unit of Sinopec, and Hong Kong-listed China Gas Holdings have signed a cooperation agreement to develop downstream gas infrastructure in eastern Chinese city of Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Sinopec said June 5.

The two companies, through a joint venture, will work to build a pipeline to transport gas from Sichuan to Nanjing. They will also develop city gas distribution network for residential and commercial market and for chemical plants in the city.  The plan is to gradually expand to other areas of the province, Sinopec said. 

China is aggressively promoting usage of natural gas in homes and industries to combat air pollution. Last year, the government mandated coal-to-gas switching which resulted in sharp increase in demand for gas. However, the mandate resulted in gas shortage in many areas due to lack of adequate infrastructure.