A 378-kilometer pipeline was commissioned in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sunday, enabling the supply of clean natural gas from China National Petroleum Corporation's Tarim Oilfield to households in five counties and cities along the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains.

Running from the transmission station at the Yingmaili oil and gas field in Aksu prefecture in the east to the Sancha distribution station in Kashgar prefecture in the west, the pipeline project started construction on March 10. The construction involves building 11 new valve chambers and distribution stations along the route, while expanding three existing natural gas stations.

With a maximum daily supply capacity of 7.2 million cubic meters, the pipeline forms a second supply route to ease gas shortages in surrounding areas.

"The pipeline will effectively address issues such as insufficient transmission capacity and limited coverage of existing pipelines," said Kang Chun, chief expert of Tarim Oilfield. "It will directly benefit more than 2 million residents of various ethnic groups in five counties and cities, including Aksu city and Bachu county, as well as two agricultural and pastoral regiments."