Society

Gas station starts operation in quake-hit Tibetan town

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-25 18:05

YUSHU, Qinghai -- A liquefied gas station started operating Monday in Yushu county, northwest China's Qinghai Province, six months after a devastating earthquake there.

The station in Gyegu town at the heart of Yushu County is run by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and supplies 20 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas a year to meet the winter heating demands for 30,000 local families.

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"It also provides clean fuel for taxis and cars in town," said Luo Jianwu, manager of the Yushu branch of CNPC Qinghai oilfield.

Construction of the gas station began on June 28 and cost 130 million yuan, he said.

It was the first major post-quake reconstruction project to be completed in the predominantly Tibetan Yushu County.

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14 left almost 3,000 people dead or missing and more than 120,000 homeless in Yushu, mostly in Gyegu town, near the epicenter. The government said rebuilding would take about three years.

To ensure a stable energy supply to the quake zone, CNPC reached an agreement with the Qinghai provincial government in June to build 12 petrol stations and a 6,000-cubic-meter oil storage tank in Yushu along with a terminal to receive liquefied gas in Gyegu town.

Qinghai is home to a number of key oil and gas production bases. Last year, its identified crude oil reserves topped 370 million tonnes and natural gas deposits were placed at 290 billion cubic meters -- only 25 percent and 11 percent, respectively, of the province's estimated total reserves.