Sinopec aims to find 100 bcm gas in Sichuan capital
BEIJING, July 7 (Reuters) - China's Sinopec Corp (0368.HK) said it aims to discover by the end of this year 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) of proven gas reserves in Dayi gas field in the suburb of Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province.
Sinopec (600028.SS)(SNP.N), China's second-largest oil and gas producer, plans to launch a full-scale development of the field in 2009 and make it a major producing site by 2010, which would help ease tightness in gas supply in the province.
Sinopec is building pipelines to pump natural gas from Puguang field, in the northeast of Sichuan, to the financial hub of Shanghai in eastern China.
Puguang, China's second-largest gas field which boasts proven reserves of 356 bcm, will have production capacity of 10 bcm this year.
China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, has been aggressively boosting natural gas production in recent years to combat declining oil reserves.
But gas shortages have remained in many regions as users scramble for the clean fuel due to its comparatively cheap prices that are set by the government. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jim Bai)
