Kazakh Oil Reaches China Through New Pipeline
July 12, 2006
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and Chinese President Hu Jintao (file photo) (AFP)
The first crude oil flowed through the 962-kilometer pipeline across the Alataw pass and into China late on July 11, Xinhua said.
The $700 million pipeline was built by the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. and Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz. The project -- which envisages a capacity of 20 million tons per year -- also calls for an extension of the pipeline by 252-kilometer section to connect the current terminal with a refinery at China's Dushanzi refinery.
Chinese officials expect to import nearly 5 million tons of Kazakh oil this year, rising to about 8 million tons in 2007, according to ITAR-TASS.
(AP, ITAR-TASS)