GE inks deal to build China's gas pipeline
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-22 22:50

US-based General Electric has won an 196-million-dollar bid to help build China's West-East Gas Pipeline.

US-based General Electric has won an 196-million-dollar bid to help build China's West-East Gas Pipeline.[AFP]

GE's oil and gas division signed an agreement with the West-East Gas Pipeline Company this week under which GE will provide gas turbines, compressors, installation and testing services to 12 newly-built compressor stations along the pipeline, the Xinhua news agency said.

The equipment includes 20 sets of gas-turbine power units and 24 PCL800 compressors, it said, citing sources with the pipeline company's parent company, China Petroleum Material and Equipment Corporation (CPMEC).

According to the agreement, the equipment will be delivered and installed from 2006 to 2009.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Tarim Basin of northwest China's Xinjiang region to the eastern coastal metropolis Shanghai.

The gas for the pipeline could also come from Russia or Kazakhstan, as the reserves in Xinjiang may prove insufficient to meet soaring demand, the China Daily cited an official with the pipeline builder PetroChina as saying Sunday.

China's rapidly expanding economy has created a sharp rise in demand for energy. Its annual consumption of gas is estimated to reach 100-125 billion cubic meters by 2010.