BEIJING Gas Group said it plans to spend up to US$1.2 billion a year over 2017 and 2018 to build pipelines and storage to meet a surge in demand for the cleaner-burning fuel in Beijing and beyond by the end of the decade.

    State-owned Beijing Gas, the dominant natural gas distributor to the city, wants to expand into upstream gas businesses as well as infrastructure to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG), said Li Yalan, the firm’s chairwoman. As China prepares to free up the State-dominated gas market, Beijing Gas is also looking to expand into the terminal business, Li said.

    The company was scouting for a coastal site to build its own LNG receiving terminal, with facilities able to store 500-600 million cubic meters of gas to cover any emergency shortage, said Li. The firm currently owns a small share in a PetroChina-controlled terminal in Tangshang, near Beijing.

    (SD-Agencies)