China-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipeline Projects

Economic and population growth raised the energy consumption in China and has turned China into a net oil importing country.  Natural gas usage in China has also increased rapidly in recent years, and China has looked to raise natural gas imports via pipeline and liquefied natural gas. For this, China needs to diversify its energy sources, and in this context Myanmar provides some important solution they need to ensure the diversity and stability of energy supply. There are several aspects that established Myanmar's important position for China. The first aspect is Myanmar's position in Southeast Asia. As Middle East and Africa provide oil supply for China, China needs to secure the access of its oil and gas supply. Southeast Asia is an important area for China to provide quick & reliable access of oil and gas.

If China could build a pipeline from the Bay of Bengal via Myanmar to China, the cost will be cut dramatically. Myanmar's strategic location on a tri-junction between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China is economically and strategically significant. The oil from Middle East and Africa could be transported by this pipeline without passing the Southeast Asian countries, except Myanmar.

The Trans Myanmar-China pipeline is a multi billion project for China's state own company, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), to carry oil and gas to China. The oil and gas pipeline will cover a length of 793 kilometres within the borders of Myanmar while the oil pipeline will cover a length of 771 kilometres from Kyaukpyu, about 400 km northwest of Yangon, to the Yunnan Province in China. The oil pipeline design capacity is 2200 tons/year, and the gas pipeline capacity on gas transport 12 billion cubic meters/year.

Oil and gas pipeline projects within the entry section, the pipeline to reach through Guizhou, Chongqing, Guizhou to Guangxi by the gas pipeline. Domestic natural gas pipelines segment length 1727 km, 1631 km long oil pipeline route.

This project is a multibillion dollar project as according to CNPC, the cost of the oil line will reach $1.5 billion and the gas line will be $1.04 billion. This multibillion dollar project will provide a designed transport capacity of 22 million tons per year for oil, while the natural gas pipeline a designed for a transport capacity of 12 billion cubic meters annually. China will also import the crude oil that it brings from the Middle East and Africa via these pipelines, which commence at Burma's Kyaukpyu deep seaport off the country's western coast and cross the country to China's Yunnan Province, enabling it to bypass the sea route through the piracy-prone Strait of Malacca.

The projects within the section started, the entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2013.