The Qingning natural gas pipeline linking East China's Qingdao in Shangdong Province with Nanjing in Jiangsu Province was connected with the Qingshan station of the country's West-to-East gas transmission project, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.

The key national oil and gas infrastructure project has a 900-meter long pipeline connecting the Nanjing station of the Qingning pipeline with the Qingshan station in the county-level city of Yizheng, Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province, with a diameter of 1,016 millimeters. It is expected to transmit 12 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The successful connection between the Nanjing station with the Qingshan station formed an interconnected supply pattern of onshore natural gas and overseas liquified natural gas (LNG) resources, Zhang Xingsheng, an official from PipeChina, told CCTV.

The project is the first major domestic project transferring LNG through pipelines instead of through shipping, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"LNG resources will be delivered to onshore receiving stations first and then connected with the pipelines of the West-to-East gas transmission project," Lin said. He added that the project will ensure the nation's energy security.

The pattern significantly strengthened the mutual protection and supply capacity of natural gas resources in the two economic zones in the Bohai Rim area and Yangtze River Delta region, Zhang said.

The project will help open multi-channel gas supply points in the Yangtze River Delta region, while giving full play to the advantages of the regional pipeline network in the Yangtze River Delta region and North China in a bid to enhance local gas supplies, according to CCTV.

Global Times