Pipeline & Gas Journal's 2003 International Pipeline Construction Report

Pipeline & Gas Journal, August, 2003

China is also involved in the construction of LNG regasification terminals and has several gas pipeline projects under way. The most ambitious of these is the 2,600 mile West-to-East Pipeline, now under construction. When completed, it will connect gas fields in China's sparsely populated west to urban markets in the east, initially running from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Province to Shanghai with subsequently connection to Beijing through a 200-mile link.

In addition to pipeline projects that will bring Chinese natural gas to market, PetroChina is negotiating with Russia to pipe gas from the Kovytka field by 2008 through an extension of the West-to-East pipeline. Talks and a feasibility study to extend the project from eastern Siberia to the Bohai Bay region of northeastern China began last year.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. is developing plans to build a 1,240-mile gas pipeline that will run from Shanghai in the east to Hainan Island at the southern tip of China. The project, which carries a $1 billion price tag, will not be completed until at least 2013.

In Indonesia, Perum Gas Negara (PGN) plans to build four new pipelines before 2007, adding 1,600 miles of new pipe to deliver gas to consumers throughout the nation. PGN is also building a 400-mile export pipeline to connect Sumatra and Singapore that should be completed by early 2005.

While India shows potential for new pipeline construction, political issues with neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh have made it difficult to advance plans for pipelines. Nevertheless, several projects are under consideration. The state-owned pipeline company, Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL), has discussed building a $2.2 billion pipeline for Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance recently discovered gas reserves estimated at 7 Tcf in the Krishna Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal. GAIL has proposed an 895-mile pipeline to link Kakinada to Goa; a 1,550-mile pipeline linking Jamna-gar, Bhopal and Cuttak, India; and a 124-mile subsea line to pipe gas to shore.

The $700 million Thai Malaysia Gas project to bring gas to Malaysia from the Gulf of Thailand is one of the more significant projects now planned. While construction of this 232-mile on- and offshore pipeline project has been off and on for about four years, reports indicate the project will begin commercial operation by the end of 2004. The pipeline was originally due for startup in 2000 but environmental opposition caused lengthy delays.

Thailand's state-owned PTT and Malaysia's state-owned oil company Petronas say the project will consist of a 172-mile, 34-inch diameter offshore pipeline that will extend from the JDA platform to landfall at a gas separation plant in the Chana district of Songkhla Province. From the plant, a 60-mile, 36-inch diameter segment of onshore line will run to the Thai-Malaysian border. Once the line route crosses the border, it extends only about eight miles before linking up with the Malaysian pipeline system at Jungloan.

Certainly the hot-spot in the Asia Pacific region is Australia, which accounts for 5,442 miles if new and planned pipeline construction. Given the area's extensive pipeline activity, project details are presented in a separate article starting on page 62.