(menafn.com) -- Shen Chen, head of China Petrochemical Corp.'s natural gas projects management department, said that the firm plans to build 6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of annual natural gas production capacity in the Yuanba gas field, located in southwestern Sichuan by end-2015, equivalent to half of its largest field, Puguang, Reuters reported.
Furthermore, the state-owned group also seeks to add 3 bcm of gas capacity at Dawan and Maoba blocks in Puguang gas field, which are run by its listed arm China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec Corp), within the upcoming year, revealed Chen.
Sinopec has spent $9.44 billion in the Puguang gas field, which is China's third largest gas field; and has related pipelines that would ship 12 bcm of gas per year to eastern China. It has also drilled a number of productive exploration wells in Yuanba since last year, company officials said.