China CNPC to complete key Myanmar oil storage facility in 2 months

May 28, 2013, 6:52 PM    


BEIJING (REUTERS) - Top state energy group China National Petroleum Company has completed six oil storage tanks on an island off western Myanmar from which two pipelines will carry fuel to China, and will soon finish six more, an industry official said on Tuesday.

The crucial strategic link will allow China to bypass the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and ship in oil from the Middle East and Africa via the Indian Ocean and a port on Maday island, off the coast of Myanmar.

The island, just 10 sq km in area with almost no infrastructure, is the origin point for both a crude oil pipeline planned to carry 440,000 barrels per day and a natural gas pipeline intended to ship 12 billion cu m annually to China's land-locked southwestern province of Yunnan.

The oil pipeline is set to begin operation in 2014 and the gas pipeline was originally due to start up at the end of May, CNPC has said.

 http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/se-asia/story/china-cnpc-complete-key-myanmar-oil-storage-facility-2-months-20130528