Reuters quoted operator China National Petroleum Corp said China has pumped 16.88 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Central Asia since the startup of a massive transnational pipeline in late 2009.

The pipeline with an expected annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters by 2012 spans nearly 2,000 kilometres in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before entering China North Western Xinjiang region.

CNPC parent of PetroChina Co Ltd plans to build more pipelines in Central Asian countries with local partners and intends to almost double the capacity of the gas pipe system by 2015.

(Sourced from Reuters)