Firms bid for gas pipeline

Foreign companies are lining up for a part in the west-east natural gas pipeline project, the flagship scheme in the nation's "go west" plans. So far 19 foreign energy companies have submitted responses to the tender offer, expressing their willingness to join in the construction of the 4,170 kilometer-long pipelines.

All the applications came from big name companies, such as BP Amoco, Royal/Dutch Shell Company, Exxon Mobil and the France-based TotalFinaElf Oil Company.

The bid winners will have the option to co-operate with PetroChina Company Ltd. In exploring five oilfields in Xinjiang's Tarim Basin, the major gas tap for the project, such as the Kela-2 and Yaha gas field. But PetroChina will hold a dominant stake in the gas exploration.

Last year, the State announced that for this project foreign investors would be allowed to control stakes in the construction and operation of the project, which aims to pipe 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from the Tarim Basin to Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta by 2005. Overseas investment will also be allowed for urban gas pipeline networks.