China Natural Gas to Provide Gas for Up to 50,000 New Customers in Tangyu

China Natural Gas has signed a contract with the local government to be the exclusive provider of compressed natural gas and piped natural gas to the Town of Tangyu in Lantian County, Xi’an City of the Shaanxi Province in China.

The company said that it will immediately commence the layout of infrastructure and expects to start providing natural gas distribution services beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The Town of Tangyu is located approximately 58km from the company’s compressor station in Hongqing. The company estimates that there are 50,000 residential and commercial customers, generating a potential annual demand of 8.5 million cubic meters of natural gas.

In addition to the development of the company’s piped natural gas business, China Natural Gas said that it continues to witness favorable trends in its retail compressed natural gas stations and auto-conversion businesses, as evidenced by two recent natural gas-related regulatory developments enforced by the Dongguan City government and China’s Ministry of Public Security, respectively.

Qinan Ji, CEO and chairman of China Natural Gas, said: “We believe the exclusive relationship with the government of Tangyu reflects the solid track record of our natural gas distribution services and the strength of our brand.”