China Petroleum & Chemical Corp Ltd, Asia's largest oil refiner also known as Sinopec, said its Sichuan-to-East natural gas pipeline has been put into commercial operation, sources reported.

The project is expected to realize RMB 20 billion in annual revenue for Sinopec.

The Sichuan-to-East pipeline, with trunk line running 1,635 kilometers from Sichuan to Shanghai through eight provinces or municipalities, is able to pump 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Sinopec's Puguang gasfield in Sichuan.

The pipeline with length of trunk and feeder lines at 2,170 kilometers can supply gas to more than 70 cities, equivalent to annual supply of 14.57 million tonnes of coal equivalent clean energy.

By the end of last year, Sinopec in Puguang and its surrounding regions had found 498.1 billion cubic meters of geological gas reserves, 403.2 billion cubic meters of controllable reserves and 559.8 billion cubic meters of predictable reserves.