Omicron-hit Tianjin boosts natural gas production amid COVID-19 control

Natural gas production in the Dagang Oilfield in north China's Tianjin Municipality has been kept at full throttle to ensure the supply of clean energy for winter heating in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, despite the latest COVID-19 resurgence.

The municipality of nearly 14 million people has recently conducted three rounds of citywide nucleic acid testing.

As of Friday, a total of 181 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 22 asymptomatic carriers were found in the latest epidemic resurgence, said the municipal health commission at a press conference Saturday.

According to the natural gas producer, the daily gas production of the oilfield has remained stable at 25 million cubic meters, while strict epidemic prevention measures have been taken. The output accounts for one-fifth of the gas consumption in Beijing during periods of high demand in winter.

Li Caixiong, manager of the gas storage sector of the Dagang Oilfield, said that all 71 natural gas wells are producing at full capacity.

He said currently, the daily output of natural gas is 35 percent more than pre-winter levels, providing strong support to meet the peak winter demand for natural gas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.