Energy firms step up output, imports

China's major energy firms are boosting natural gas production and imports to ease shortages caused by a cold snap this month.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's leading oil and gas producer, on Wednesday night started operating a natural gas pipeline in western China.

The pipeline, which sends natural gas from the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai province to Xining, capital of Qinghai, will increase CNPC's gas supply in the region by 3 million cu m per day, the company said in a statement yesterday.