China, Myanmar Oil Pipeline To Launch "Very Quickly"

China, Myanmar Oil Pipeline To Launch "Very Quickly"

China and Myanmar have finally reached an agreement on an oil pipeline that
that would allow China to import crude oil from overseas via Myanmar, and
the project is slated to open "very quickly", according to Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.

An oil refinery in the city of Kunming in China's southern Yunnan province
is complete and ready to receive crude oil via the pipeline, Reuters quoted
Liu as saying on Monday.

A couple of weeks ago, the launch of the oil pipeline had been postponed
again despite talks of imminent start-up, because the project was awaiting
final approvals and permissions for tankers to enter Myanmar waters.

PetroChina and Myanmar's government had yet to finalize the deal for the
480-mile-long pipeline set to carry oil across Myanmar to the landlocked
southern Chinese provinces neighboring Myanmar, Reuters reported back then,
citing a source with the Myanmar government.

In addition to this finalization hurdle, PetroChina had not yet obtained
permission from Myanmar's Navy for tankers to enter ports in the country,
according to Reuters' government source familiar with the matter.

The $1.5-billion oil pipeline-conceived some ten years ago and completed
late in 2014-has not been used due to strained relations between Myanmar and
China and its inability to obtain final authorizations.

Earlier in March, the pipeline was said to be nearing imminent launch as the
two countries settle their differences regarding the terms of the oil
transport project.

The crude is to be supplied to PetroChina's brand new refinery in the Yunnan
province, where test production is scheduled to start in June.

The oil pipeline via Myanmar would be strategically important to China as it
would allow it to have an alternative supply route to the ones for imports
of oil from the Middle East and Europe that cross the crowded shipping route
of the Strait of Malacca and Singapore.

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Link to Original Article:
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Myanmar-Oil-Pipeline
-To-Launch-Very-Quickly.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com