As a kind of clean energy, natural gas has been widely used in production and life. In the invisible underground, a series of "gas dragons" are rushing endlessly, transporting natural gas to the north and south of the motherland and reaching Hong Kong as far as possible, benefiting 500 million people across the country.
As a national large-scale oil and gas production, processing and reserve base, Xinjiang has continuously strengthened the infrastructure construction of natural gas pipelines and woven the dense natural gas pipeline network. With the commissioning of the Fourth West-to-East Gas Pipeline Project and the expansion of the natural gas pipeline project in northern and southern Xinjiang, the "gas dragon" running through the east and west of the motherland and the north and south of Tianshan Mountain will have a stronger pulse, providing a strong energy guarantee for the high-quality development of China’s economy and society.
Expansion of natural gas pipeline network in north and south Xinjiang
The spring breeze is strong, and the effort is the first. On March 27th, machines roared and welding spattered at the construction site of the natural gas project in Tacheng area.
After the project is completed and put into use, North Four Counties in Tacheng will end the history of transporting LNG by tanker. Natural gas can be transported through underground pipe network, avoiding the "old tuyere" of Mayitas, and the supply will be safer and more stable.
The project of benefiting the people from natural gas in Tacheng area includes a main line and three branch lines, with a total length of 407.5 kilometers. Among them, the trunk line takes baijiantan district, Karamay City as the first stop, and passes through Wuerhe District and emin county to Tacheng City; Two of the three branch lines are from emin county to Toli County and Yumin County respectively, and one is from Tacheng Terminal Station to Baktu Branch Line. In 2023, the natural gas project in Tacheng area started construction, and more than 170 kilometers of pipelines were welded in that year. In mid-March this year, all sections of the project resumed work one after another, and it is expected that the main line will be connected by the end of the year.
The project of benefiting the people from natural gas in Tacheng area is a part of the expansion project of natural gas pipeline benefiting the people in north and south Xinjiang. The northern part of the expansion project of natural gas pipeline benefiting the people in the south and north Xinjiang also covers Altay region, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture and Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture.
In order to promote high-quality development achievements to better benefit people’s livelihood and unite people’s hearts, in July 2023, the People’s Government of the Autonomous Region signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Co., Ltd. to plan the "one network" layout of natural gas in Xinjiang, and PetroChina’s enterprises in Xinjiang implemented the expansion project of natural gas pipelines benefiting the people in north and south Xinjiang, with a total mileage of nearly 5,000 kilometers. After the project is completed, it will benefit 11 million people in 24 counties and cities and 52 regiments of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which is of great significance to promoting Xinjiang’s economic and social development, improving people’s livelihood and protecting the ecological environment.
The pipeline expansion project of Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture and Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture was implemented by Xinjiang Branch of Natural Gas Sales of China Petroleum and Natural Gas Co., Ltd., with a length of 787 kilometers. "After the project is completed, it will realize the full coverage of natural gas in Huocheng County, Chabuchar Xibo Autonomous County and Yining County. The Chabuchar branch pipeline project started first, and as of March 26, the pipeline has been laid for more than 30 kilometers. " Qiu Yuejiang, Party Secretary of China Oil and Gas Sales Xinjiang Branch, said that after the completion of the project, the convenience and comfort of local residents’ lives will be greatly improved, and clean energy will be provided for industrial development and investment attraction.
The project of gasifying natural gas pipeline in southern Xinjiang is implemented by Tarim Oilfield, which is divided into east-west ring roads and is planned to be implemented in three phases. The first phase of the project under construction is 616 kilometers long and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
On March 29th, the first welding joint of the gasified South Xinjiang natural gas pipeline project, which is an important part of the expansion project of the South-North Xinjiang natural gas pipeline benefiting the people, was opened in Kuqa City, marking the full-scale construction of the 2,108-kilometer gasified South Xinjiang natural gas pipeline project. After the project is fully completed, the natural gas pipeline network around the tower will change from "C" shape to "O" shape, and become the fourth ring after the expressway around the tower, the railway around the tower and the power grid around the tower.
Accelerate the construction of the fourth line of west-to-east gas transmission
While fully promoting the expansion project of the natural gas pipeline benefiting the people in the north and south Xinjiang, Dongjiang is accelerating the construction of the natural gas pipeline project of the fourth line of west-to-east gas transmission.
The Fourth West-East Gas Pipeline (Turpan-Zhongwei Section) passes through 17 counties and cities in Xinjiang, Gansu and Ningxia provinces, with a total length of 1,745 kilometers and a designed annual gas transmission capacity of 15 billion cubic meters. Among them, the Xinjiang section of the Fourth West-East Gas Pipeline passes through Gaochang District of Turpan City, Shanshan County and Yizhou District of Hami City, with a total length of 583 kilometers. There are 4 gas transmission stations in Dun, Yandun, Turpan and Lianmuqin and 18 line valve chambers.
"As of March 22, the comprehensive progress of the Xinjiang section of the Fourth West-East Gas Pipeline has been completed by 80.96%, laying a solid foundation for commissioning at the end of 2024." Song Xiaodong, project manager of the Xinjiang section of the Fourth West-East Gas Pipeline, said that the Xinjiang section has crossed 9 railways, 2 expressways, 3 provincial highways, 13 pipe corridors and 12 large and medium-sized rivers. During the peak period of the project construction, thousands of workers were employed, and the iron army for pipe network construction overcame extreme weather such as high temperature, dust and strong wind, which ensured the project construction to be promoted on schedule.
At present, the welding project of the fourth line of the West-East Gas Pipeline has been basically completed, and the construction of 4 stations and 18 valve chambers is being promoted.
After the completion of the fourth line of west-to-east gas transmission, it will be jointly operated with the second and third lines of west-to-east gas transmission. By then, the annual transportation capacity of the west-to-east gas pipeline system will reach 100 billion cubic meters.
The Second West-East Gas Pipeline starts from Horgos, reaches Hong Kong in the south and Shanghai in the east. The third line of west-to-east gas transmission starts from Horgos in the west and ends in Fuzhou in the east. The second and third lines of the West-East Gas Pipeline and the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline form an east-west energy artery, which starts from Turkmenistan and runs eastward after entering Khorgos, reaching Hong Kong as far as possible.
Due to the influence of climate, it is difficult to carry out inspection in the Guozigou section of the second and third lines of the West-to-East Gas Pipeline in winter, especially in the areas with frequent seasonal avalanches, and it is extremely difficult to inspect and maintain the pipeline. This area is located in Tianshan seismic belt, which intersects with Kashi River fault zone and Keguqin fault zone along the line. If there is a strong earthquake, the risk of pipeline failure and fracture is greater.
"The second and third pipeline systems of West-to-East gas transmission are the main energy channels between China and Central Asia, and also the main gas supply pipelines in western and central and eastern China, benefiting nearly 300 million people in 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities along the route." Xu Lie, manager of the engineering technology department of the Western Pipeline Co., Ltd. of the State Pipe Network Group, said that in order to ensure energy security, it is necessary to implement the strategic safety pipeline project of the second and third lines of the West-East Gas Transmission Project.
The pipeline project, with a total length of 32 kilometers, started in the autumn of 2023, and tunnels will be drilled along the line, which is extremely difficult to construct.
Energy arteries benefit 500 million people
Why build a west-to-east gas transmission project?
Back in 1999, the Asian financial turmoil had just subsided, and China’s GDP was still growing rapidly at a rate of nearly 8%. In order to support the ever-changing economic development, the national coal consumption reached 1.3 billion tons this year, and at the same time, smoke, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides were discharged into the air, which affected the air quality and caused acid rain.
At the same time, in September, 1998, well Kela-2 in Tarim Oilfield obtained high-yield natural gas flow, marking the emergence of Kela-2 gas field, the largest high-quality integrated gas field in China.
As a result, clean energy natural gas has entered people’s field of vision.
In 2002, the State Council approved the start of the West-East Gas Transmission Project.
The first line of west-to-east gas transmission starts from Lunnan, Xinjiang in the west and ends in Shanghai in the east. It runs across 9 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities from east to west, with a total length of 4,200 kilometers. It was put into operation in 2004.
According to the statistics of the Western Pipeline Co., Ltd. of the State Pipe Network Group, by 2023, the cumulative gas transmission capacity of the West-East Gas Pipeline System consisting of the first, second and third lines of the West-East Gas Pipeline will exceed 830 billion cubic meters, replacing 1.105 billion tons of standard coal and reducing 1.214 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, benefiting more than 400 cities, more than 3,000 large and medium-sized enterprises and nearly 500 million people in western China, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, Central China and the Central Plains.
The data shows that Xinjiang’s oil and gas production equivalent has ranked first in the country for three consecutive years. Xinjiang, which is rich in natural gas resources, has been supplying gas to Korla since 1999, and the number of gas supply counties and cities has been increasing since then.
With the rapid economic and social development in southern Xinjiang, the demand for natural gas is increasing day by day. In 2010, the "No.1 Project" of China’s oil aid to Xinjiang, the Southern Xinjiang Natural Gas Benefiting Project, started construction. After it was put into operation in 2013, it was connected with the "Gasification Southern Xinjiang" pipeline built in the previous period, and the gas transmission scope covered five southern Xinjiang states.
Since then, Tarim Oilfield has continued to promote the construction of natural gas projects in southern Xinjiang and continuously extend the pipeline mileage. "Up to now, the total mileage of the South Xinjiang Natural Gas Benefiting Project and the’ Gasification South Xinjiang’ pipeline network has reached more than 4,700 kilometers." Chang Guichuan, secretary of the Party Committee of the Oil and Gas Transportation and Marketing Division of Tarim Oilfield, said that these pipelines are connected in series with 42 counties and cities in southern Xinjiang and 46 farming and animal husbandry farms, and they are also interconnected and complementary with the west-to-east gas pipeline network.
The first natural gas pipeline network in Junggar basin of northern Xinjiang is the pipeline from Karamay to Urumqi, which was completed and put into operation in 2005. In 2008, the first annular gas pipeline network was built in Junggar Basin, with a total length of about 760 kilometers. By the first half of 2023, the natural gas pipeline network around Junggar Basin in northern Xinjiang has been put into operation for over 2,000 kilometers.
When the expansion project of natural gas pipeline benefiting the people in north and south Xinjiang is completed, Xinjiang will become the region with the longest coverage route of natural gas pipeline network in China, which can effectively guarantee the gas demand of people of all ethnic groups.
The "dragon of gas" running across the east and west of the motherland and across the north and south of Tianshan Mountain will inject more surging kinetic energy into the construction of beautiful China and beautiful Xinjiang. (Yu Jiangyan)
关于作者