China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country's
state-owned oil giant, has said that the China-Myanmar gas pipeline,
expected to benefit over 100 million people in the two countries, had
begun full operations.
Experts believe that bilateral energy security and cooperation will
be deepened through pipeline construction and related education, medical
and power generation projects.
ENERGY SECURITY ENHANCED
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 billion
cubic meters of natural gas annually to Myanmar and southwest China,
which will reduce coal consumption by 30.72 million tonnes and lower
carbon dioxide emissions by 52.83 million tonnes per year, according to
the CNPC.
Construction on the gas pipeline began in 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 million
tonnes of crude oil every year. The Myanmar section of the gas pipeline
started delivering gas to China in late July.
According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, China's
consumption of natural gas stood at 143.8 billion cubic meters in 2012,
with 27 percent of its gas needs coming from imports.
The gas pipeline will provide 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year
to China, equal to almost 7 percent of the country's gas consumption
last winter.
"Completion of the pipeline made a breakthrough in China's natural
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.
BETTER PIPELINE NETWORK
With the project in use, natural 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 first Chinese
city with access to natural gas from Myanmar, the CNPC said.
Cities along the pipeline are speeding up construction of municipal
distribution pipelines, and natural gas will be supplied through the
pipeline to Dali, Baoshan, Anning, Anshun and Guiyang late this year or
in early 2014, marking the first time China's Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau
will have access to natural gas.
According to Wu Hong, General Manager of the CNPC's pipeline
construction department, the Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline will be
connected with China's West-East natural gas transmission project in
order to better allocate natural gas and ensure gas supply to downstream
users in case of emergency.
The pipeline gas price will be lower than prices of liquefied
petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas and will likely cut down gas
consumption costs, according to the CNPC.
WIN-WIN COOPERATION
The Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline project was co-funded by six
companies from China, Myanmar, the Republic of Korea and India, which
will all benefit from the pipeline's operations.
Liu Yijun, an expert with China University of Petroleum in Beijing,
said that the project's cooperation model preserves the stability of
pipeline operations.
The pipeline has also paved the way for China to establish energy
collaborations with Southeast Asian nations in major energy projects,
Liu added.
According to the CNPC, the project provides Myanmar with 2 million
tonnes of crude oil and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually,
increasing resource supplies to Myanmar's local citizens.
Meanwhile, the project will bring Myanmar direct benefits in the
areas of taxation, investment bonuses, transit fees, training and
capital for social aid, as well as numerous job opportunities.
The CNPC and its two joint ventures have injected about 20 million
U.S. dollars into Myanmar to improve education, medical care and power
infrastructure.
source: Mizzima
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