Sinopec to Establish Coal to Gas Base in Xinjiang

Xinjiang Energy Chemical Co, a subsidiary of Sinopec, plans to establish world's largest and efficiency coal to natural gas production base in the Zhundong area of China's Xinjiang province.

The project, which may need investment of about 70 billion yuan ($11.3 billion), will likely be ready in 8-10 years and will have annual production capacity of 8 billion cubic metres, a statement posted on the Xinjiang provincial government's website showed.

Sinopec has two mining areas in the province with 14.8 billion tons of coal reserves. The natural gas made in the region will be transferred to Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces through a pipeline with annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, the statement said.