China building 1st coal bed methane pipeline to ease energy strains

China has begun construction on its first coal bed methane (CBM) pipeline, which is intended to help ease energy strains.

Capable of carrying 3 billion cubic meters of CBM each year, the 35-kilometer line will link the Qinshui Basin in north China’s Shanxi Province with the east-west natural gas pipeline, the China National Petroleum Corp., builder of the line, said on Wednesday.
The company didn’t give information on costs or dates for completion and operation.

“The project will make use of CBM in a more economic way and supplement sources for the west-east gas pipeline and ease the gas supply strain,” the country’s largest oil and gas producer said in a statement.

It added that natural gas supplies will fall 60 billion cubic meters short of demand in China by 2010.

Xinhua