OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2011. Kunlun Energy Company Limited has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Haikou Municipal Government. Pursuant to the agreement, Kunlun Energy Company Limited will invest RMB 250 million (USD 38.3 million) to jointly establish a company with Haikou Municipal Government for the purchase of LNG public buses, investment, construction, operation and management of bus depots, depot gas refilling stations and other bus infrastructure in an effort to enhance the bus service and its quality in Haikou and to effectively facilitate energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Haikou Municipal Government will support the construction of the 55 planned refuelling stations of PetroChina in Haikou Municipal, with the steady supply of natural gas guaranteed by Kunlun Energy Company Limited at the gas refilling stations.

Li Hualin, Vice President of PetroChina Company Limited and the Chairman of Kunlun Energy Company Limited stated that, according to the statistics from the relevant authorities, 90% of the urban air pollution comes from vehicle exhaust, and that the emission of such harmful gas can be reduced by more than 70% with the use of LNG vehicles.

Ji Wenlin, the Vice General Secretary of Haikou Municipal Committee and the Mayor of Haikou City, stated that leveraging on the support from PetroChina, Haikou Municipal will seek:

innovation in respect of priority development of urban public transportation, upgrade and introduction of environment-friendly public buses and easing of traffic congestion;
effectiveness in respect of popularization and application of clean fuels such as natural gas and promotion of energy conservation and emissions reduction; and breakthrough in respect of increasing employment opportunities and improvement of livelihood.

According to the Hainan Municipal Government and PetroChina, they will promote further cooperations in other respects at a higher level between Hainan Province and PetroChina while prioritizing their cooperation in the public transportation sector for the purpose of boosting the overall development of the economy and society of Hainan Province.

Haikou is the capital city of Hainan Province, situated on the north east coast of Hainan island, and had an estimated population of 1.8 million in 2010.