Mainland gas provider China Gas Holdings Ltd yesterday formed a joint venture (JV) with South Korean energy conglomerate SK Group and its subsidiary SK E&S.

China Gas managing director Liu Minghui said that the formation of the JV was made to speed up the piped gas and relevant energy businesses on the mainland. He stressed that the businesses of the JV and China Gas would not overlap.

"The JV will involve on mainland cities' piped gas projects in the areas we have not explored," said Liu in the signing ceremony yesterday.

"Although they have not identified the cities, there will be a clear task division to avoid overlapping businesses with China Gas."

He said the fledging natural gas market on the mainland had plenty of room to explore so that the formation of JV would enable them to "enlarge the cake".

The JV's registered capital is $20 million. SK and China Gas each invests $10 million to hold 50 percent stake of the company. "The investment is just for the start-up. We will further pour the money in, depending on the progress of our development."

Liu revealed that the company was planning to seek appropriate LPG import project in Guangdong and Guangxi.

"Given SK Group is very experienced in the industry, we hope to take the opportunity to introduce its technology and management skill for quickening our expansion," added Liu.

SK Group is engaged in a wide range of businesses including energy exploitation, refinery, communication, financial services and logistics operations. Its subsidiary SK E&S is the largest city natural gas operator in Korea.

SK Group began its operation on the mainland since 1990. The company has invested $1.2 billion in the market, owning 53 projects on the mainland.

Against the backdrop, SK E&S representative director/CEO Kim joong ho, however, said that the partnership with China Gas does not affect the group's investment in the market.

"In the long run, we hope the group could snatch 10 percent market shares in city gas supply between 2015 to 2020," said Kim.

He continued that the company had no plan to purchase stake of China Gas in current stage, "but we might consider when the time is ripe."

Given SK Group owning oil fields overseas, Liu said that China Gas would not jointly undertake the projects. "We will focus more on the downstream businesses," said Liu.