The West-East Gas Pipeline is operated by PetroChina, with a 72.26% interest in PetroChina Pipelines. With a total of 8,707km, it tops the list of the world’s longest pipelines. It includes a main trunkline (phase I) which eight branches. Phase I connects the Tarim Basin gas fields in Xianjing to China’s biggest city, Shanghai, stretching 4,000km. The pipeline passes through no fewer than 66 cities in ten provinces, and the gas is used for electricity production in the Yangtze River Delta.
The West-East Gas Pipeline originally had the capacity to hold 12 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. In 2007 the pipeline was expanded to 17 billion cubic metres. Including ten new gas compressor stations built to support the extra gas. The total CAPEX of the project at the time was estimated to be $5.7bn.
Phases II and III of the pipeline both stem from the main pipeline, spreading from Xianjing in several different directions. The capacity of the second phase pipeline is 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year and cost the company $20bn, while phase III can hold another 30 billion cubic metres annually. This makes it both the longest pipeline project and one of the largest in terms of capacity.