China poised for pick up in oil and gas pipeline construction after prolonged lull
Chu Kong short-listed as potential supplier to a 200bn yuan, 8,972km Sinopec gas pipeline project linking Xinjiang with Zhejiang and Guangdong
Oil and gas pipelines suppliers are poised to benefit from faster pipelines construction after over three years of falling orders, industry reforms and a prolonged anti-corruption drive that saw major management reshuffles at the nation’s biggest state oil and gas producers, according to the head of a major supplier.
Chen Chang, chairman of Guangdong-based Chu Kong Petroleum and Natural Gas Steel Pipe, one of China’s largest producers of processed steel for oil and gas pipelines, said there are already early signs of a recovery in the sector.
“There has been a pick-up in activities, and Sinopec especially may be recovering faster than others,” he told the South China Morning Post in an interview. “We view that as a prelude to what may be coming.”
Chu Kong has recently been short-listed for consideration as a potential supplier to a 200 billion yuan project that is hoped to turn coal into natural gas in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. which will then be transported via a 8,972-kilometre pipeline to markets in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces planned by China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec).
Chen said the project is considered as one of the main gas pipelines planned in the 2016 to 2020 five-year industry development plan released in mid January by industry regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).