A brand new natural gas pipeline operated by China National Petroleum Corpin the southwestern province of Yunnan has sprung a leak, raising worries again about the safety of the nation’s vast network of oil and gas pipes.
China is rapidly expanding its gas supply to cities and industry as part of a shift away from its reliance on coal as a fuel. The equally rapid expansion of sprawling cities into former industrial zones combined with lack of co-ordination among oil groups and local government bureaux raises the risk of a dangerous breach.
The nation is in the first year of a three-year campaign to improve pipeline safety after a November 2013 leak in a crude pipeline operated by fellow oil group Sinopec in the coastal city of Qingdao caused an explosion that ripped through residential streets and killed more than 60 people.