OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2012. The plan listed Sino Gas’s production sharing contracts as key projects for which development would be accelerated, a move the company said could see better coordination between central and local governments.

Released by China’s National Development and Reform Commission on 31 December 2011, the plan announced a focus on the eastern fringe of the Ordos basin, where Sino Gas’s Linxing and Sanjiaobei PRCs are located.

The new plan came after Shanxi International Electricity Group announced it had begun pre-commission checks on a dedicated CBM pipeline connecting between those projects and key markets on the western edge of the Shanxi Province.

Sino Gas had recently received Chinese government approval for an extension of its Linxing PSC exploration period to 31 August 2013, clearing the way for a gas production by mid-2012.

Sino Gas chairman Gavin Harper said the new plan was evidence of Chinese government support for the domestic CBM sector.

“Sino Gas is on course to complete the drive towards development of these highly valuable projects, and to rapidly move towards early gas production followed by full commercial production,” he said.

“The exploration period extension on the Linxing PSC allows us to now move toward formal development approval," he said.