China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline on test run

China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline (Myanmar section) was launched for a trial run on 28 January after the project was completed through five years of efforts by the two sides, according to Xinhua News reports.

The starting point of the crude oil pipeline, Made Island Port, where the first large oil tanker with the capacity of 300,000 tonnes has already been in place, was opened on 30 January.

The construction of this section, which was started in June 2010 and completed on 30 May 2014, was jointly invested and built by China National Petroleum Corporation (50.9% shares) and Myanmar's state-run Oil and Gas Enterprise (49.1% shares).

The pipeline extends as far as 771km with designed transmission capacity of 22M tonnes per year, and will service China's two major growth centres - Kunming and Chongqing, two of China's industrial hubs along the Yangtze River Delta. Both cities are essential for China's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

"Safety level of pipelines is much higher than for sea shipments, which will ensure a stable energy supply to China," Li Li, strategy director at the energy consultancy firm ICIS-C1, told local media, "and the economic benefits will grow as deliveries increase."

Made Island, a deepwater port located in the southeast of Myanmar's Rakhine State, has a 300,000-tonne crude oil wharf; a working vessel wharf; a 650,000m? water tank; a 38km port channel; and a 1.2M m? crude oil reserver.

As of 25 January 2015 at 18.00 hours local time, the pipeline had transmitted 3.92Bn m3 of gas to China, offloading 147M m3 of gas for Myanmar.