China-Myanmar Nat Gas Pipeline Is Operational

China-Myanmar Nat Gas pipeline, expected to benefit over 100-M people in the 2 countries, has begun full operations, this according to the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) the state owned oil giant.

Experts believe that bilateral energy security and co-operation will be deepened through pipeline construction and related education, medical and power generation projects.

Some 793 kilometers of the 2,520-km trunk line are in Myanmar, while the rest of the line is in China. It is expected to send 12-B cubic meters of Nat Gas annually to Myanmar and southwest China, which will reduce Coal consumption by 30.72-M tonnes and lower CO2 emissions by 52.83-M tonnes per year, according to the CNPC.

Construction on the Nat Gas pipeline began in Y 2010 as part of the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline project, which also includes construction of a Crude Oil pipeline designed to transport 22-M tonnes of Crude Oil every year. The Myanmar section of the Nat Gas pipeline started delivering Nat Gas to China in late July.

According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy (NYSE:BP), China’s consumption of Nat Gas stood at 143.8-B cubic meters in Y 2012, with 27% of its Nat Gaas needs coming from imports.

The pipeline will provide 10-B cubic meters of Nat Gas per year to China, equal to almost 7% of the country’s Nat Gas consumption last Winter.

“Completion of the pipeline made a breakthrough in China’s Nat Gas imports from the southwest, which will effectively weaken risk and enhance the country’s energy security,” said Lin Boqiang, Director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.

With the project fully operational, Nat Gas will be transported to south China’s Guangdong Province through the pipeline. Tongliang in the southwest municipality of Chongqing is likely to be the 1st Chinese city with access to Nat Gas from Myanmar, the CNPC said.

Cities along the pipeline are speeding up construction of municipal distribution pipelines, and Nat Gas will be supplied through the pipeline to Dali, Baoshan, Anning, Anshun and Guiyang late this year or in early Y 2014, marking the first time China’s Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau will have access to Nat Gas.

According to Wu Hong, General Manager of the CNPC’s pipeline construction department, the Myanmar-China Nat Gas pipeline will be connected with China’s West-East Nat Gas transmission project in order to better allocate Nat Gas and ensure supply to downstream users in case of emergency.

The pipeline’s Nat Gas price will be lower than prices of liquefied petroleum Gas and liquefied Nat Gas (LNG) and will likely cut down Gas consumption costs, according to the CNPC.

source: Live Trading News
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