CNOOC Datong Natural Gas

Do you know when they will start hiring?

The environmental impact assessment for CNOOC Datong Natural Gas project has been approved

Is there an official approval document from the Ministry of Environmental Protection?

No, it’s likely difficult to get approval in the near future!

It’s also unclear what the policy actually is regarding coal chemical industry

It’s never happened before; now there are almost 200 people, all transferred from internal units

Currently, 4 projects have passed the first round of evaluation by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: the three projects related to the clean and efficient use of coal in Datong and Zhungeer Banner carried out by CNOOC (CNOOC, BEIKEONG, and Hebei Construction Investment). However, many issues were raised in relation to these projects; they were not officially approved, nor were they rejected, but rather it was requested that improvements be made. The owners of these projects are keeping a close eye on them. I think we’ll have to wait until the Environmental Protection Department comes up with scientific selection criteria, so that an overall assessment can be conducted and those projects that don’t meet the standards can be rejected. It’s impossible for all 17 coal-to-gas projects to get approval; the chief economist of the Energy Bureau has made it clear that several projects will definitely be approved during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, though it’s hard to say exactly how many. **It seems they’re still deciding how many projects should be approved. I guess at most half of them will get approval, and the rest will depend on the performance of those projects, with implementation taking place during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

According to the current environmental impact assessment guidelines, if it is not approved, one must wait for another review session, rather than keeping the decision pending without any announcement.

The three projects in Zhungeer Banner are set to be submitted for review again; revisions are being made based on experts’ suggestions. In terms of the project’s physical aspects (there are no major issues with the location, water standards, or environmental protection requirements), the Zhungeer projects have advantages. The key factor lies in **policies**, while the situation regarding the Datong projects is unclear – it seems there are some problems with their location choices