A second gas pipeline connecting China's oil-rich western regions with the more industrialized southern and eastern areas is likely to link Guangdong Province, according to sources with the China Business News.

The planned pipeline would also likely link Tarim Basin in the West and traverse Qinghai and Sichuan provinces.

The exact route of the pipeline, its capacity and construction date have not been revealed.

China finished building its first gas pipeline -- linking Xinjiang with Shanghai -- in 2004. PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, built the 4,000-kilometer pipeline with help from international oil firms such as Royal Dutch/Shell, Russia's Gazprom and Exxon Mobil.

China's gas consumption is expected to hit 100 billion to 120 billion cubic meters by 2010, and the figure is likely to double by 2020.

China has already built oil and gas pipelines extending more than 450,000 kilometers across the nation.

Gas consumption in China currently accounts for 3 to 5 percent of overall energy consumption. The government is planning to raise the proportion to 8 to 10 percent.

Editor: Donald