(Yicai) May 21 -- National Oil and Gas Pipeline Group, better known as PipeChina, saves users a total of CNY12 billion (USD1.7 billion) in energy costs each year, according to the Chinese company's deputy general manager for marketing.

PipeChina can do so by enabling small- and medium-sized enterprises to share natural gas pipeline infrastructure and simplifying transaction processes, Yang An told Yicai in an interview during the 29th World Gas Conference held in Beijing from May 19 to 23.

Established in December 2019, PipeChina took over the trunk oil and gas pipeline assets of China's three major oil giants to fairly open up oil and gas transportation infrastructure to third parties and reduce overall energy costs.

PipeChina operates about 59 percent of China's over 100,000-kilometer natural gas pipelines, Yang pointed out. Through a newly established pipeline capacity trading platform, the company enables more users to conveniently access natural gas transportation infrastructure.

Before PipeChina's establishment, natural gas transported from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in West China to Shanghai in the eastern coastal region had to pass through the infrastructure of at least seven operators, involving cumbersome transaction procedures and high costs, Yang explained.

Now, PipeChina's new natural gas trading platform allows customers to complete all necessary delivery procedures with just one pass, thereby reducing their energy usage costs, he added.

Moreover, Yang said that after PipeChina's establishment, eight liquefied natural gas receiving stations were opened to the market, enabling more SMEs to obtain direct procurement channels for imported natural gas resources.

By the end of last year, PipeChina had handled over 70 million tons of LNG from more than 50 firms from 30 countries and regions, up about 30 percent from 2020, according to Yang.

"By participating in this event, we hope to showcase to the industry the changes we have brought to the Chinese natural gas market over the past five years, so that more customers can trust and use our pipeline network, and more lower-cost clean energy can enter the Chinese market," Yang noted.

"As an operator of natural gas infrastructure, we welcome all overseas customers to discuss cooperation with us," he added. "The company will serve as a bridge for communication between upstream and downstream parties."

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione