Sinopec's southwestern bureau builds 1.24b cu m in new capacity

Workers at the natural gas purification plant at the Yuanba gas field developed by the Sinopec Southwest China Petroleum Bureau inspect equipment. [Photo by Yuan Peng/For China Daily]

The Sinopec Southwest China Petroleum Bureau reported gas production of more than 7 billion cubic meters by Nov 22, up 19.4 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

The gas produced by the bureau is supplied to more than 70 cities in six provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Sinopec, together with China National Petroleum Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, has been stepping up efforts to increase natural gas output ahead of winter by between 6.5 percent and 14 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters.

Workers at the Yuanba gas field developed by the Sinopec Southwest China Petroleum Bureau inspect equipment at night. [Photo by Qiu Shuhong/For China Daily]

The Sinopec Southwest China Petroleum Bureau saw its daily gas output reach a record high of 24 million cu m in November, equivalent to the gas demands of 48 million households.

The southwestern bureau has increased its efforts to explore and produce natural gas this year. It so far has a newly built capacity of 1.24 billion cu m, with more than 81 new wells recently being put into operation.

It aims to produce 8 billion cu m of natural gas by the end of this year to ensure sufficient gas supply throughout the country.