BEIJING: China's Sinopec Group  announced a range of measures to shore up winter gas supplies including ramping up spot cargoes purchases, expanding its LNG receiving terminal and improving connectivity of its gas pipe networks.

China's natural gas market showed tightness this summer with Sinopec's gas sales growing 13.4 percent in the first seven months of the year, the company said in a press release on Monday. It is the company's first major announcement of concrete steps that it will take to tackle China's gas shortages, especially this winter.

"Some cities and companies have been telling us that they are starving for more gas," Sinopec said in the release.

The company plans to book 2,600 truck drivers and renting 1,600 trucks to deliver gas from LNG terminals in southern China to cities in the north this winter.

The three oil majors, Sinopec, CNOOC and PetroChina, also plan to connect their major pipes this year to increase pipe utilization rate.

Sinopec aims to connect its northern China pipeline network with PetroChina's Sichuan to East China pipe, the east leg of the China to Russia gas pipeline, and the Sha'anxi to Beijing gas artery.

Sinopec also hoped to have 41 million tonnes, or 60 billion cubic metres, of annual LNG receiving capacity by 2023 through expansion of its current LNG terminal.

Sinopec will also push ahead construction of three new terminals in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, the city of Nantong in Jiangsu province and Longkou in Shandong province.