Officials with China Natural Gas, Inc., a provider of compressed natural gas for vehicular fuel and pipeline natural gas for industrial, commercial and residential use in Xi'an, China, April 8 announced that the company has received local government approval from four cities in Hubei Province, China, to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserve stations, harbor LNG fueling stations and inland LNG fueling stations in the region. The cities within Hubei Province include Wuhan, Yichang, Xiangfan and Huangshi. The development marks the company's initial endeavors expanding into the natural gas market in Hubei Province.

The company said that according to approval documents, it is allowed to build 30 inland LNG fueling stations and four harbor LNG fueling stations in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province; in Yichang City, the company is allowed to build one LNG reserve station, two harbor LNG fueling stations and seven inland LNG fueling stations; in Xiangfan, it is allowed to build one LNG reserve station, one harbor LNG fueling station and four inland LNG fueling stations; and in Huangshi, the company can build one LNG reserve station, two harbor LNG fueling stations and six inland LNG fueling stations.

Hubei government officials commented that, “utilization of natural gas satisfies the long-term need of energy conservation and environmental protection. The positive impacts of the LNG utilization include optimizing urban energy structure, easing energy shortages, reducing cost of energy consumption and augmenting the natural gas coverage in addition to pipelines. LNG also has obvious economic and environmental advantages for transportation applications including buses, freight vehicles and ships.” – Theresa Ward