China Petroleum & Chemical Corp steps up efforts for upcoming winter

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, China's largest oil refiner, said on Wednesday that the company has been stepping up gas injection for its natural gas storage facilities nationwide, including the Wei-11 and Wen-23 underground gas storage facilities, to ensure sufficient gas supplies for the spike in demand during the upcoming winter heating season.

Effective working gas storage capacities of the company's natural gas branch currently exceeds 2.5 billion cubic meters, which can meet the gas demand of 160 million households for one month, it said.

At the same time, the company is also striving to diversify its natural gas import channels and step up efforts in upstream exploitation and exploration to further tap domestic gas potential and ensure gas supply security for the upcoming heating season.

China's natural gas consumption rose steadily year-on-year in the first eight months of 2023 amid efforts to achieve green development, with apparent consumption of natural gas standing at 259.81 billion cubic meters, up 7.4 percent year-on-year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

In August alone, the apparent consumption of natural gas increased 11.1 percent year-on-year to 32.68 billion cubic meters, data from the country's top economic regulator showed.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn