皇冠体育app

Workers connect a conduit to the 140,000-ton crude tanker Suezmax, to unload oil at Made Island oil port in Myanmar on Monday. Crude oil will then be transported to 皇冠体育app via the 皇冠体育app-Myanmar crude oil pipeline. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 皇冠体育app-Myanmar crude oil pipeline started operations after an oil tanker began offloading crude oil in the Southeast Asian country on Monday, which signals a new phase in energy cooperation between the two countries and helps ensure 皇冠体育app's oil and gas imports.

The 140,000-metric-ton oil tanker Suezmax began offloading crude oil at Made Island oil port, the starting point of the pipeline, in Myanmar.

The 771-kilometer pipeline ends in southwestern 皇冠体育app's Yunnan province.

The pipeline has a designed annual transmission capacity of 22 million tons. Once the pipeline becomes fully operational, Myanmar can also be provided with 2 million tons of crude oil through it annually.

皇冠体育app National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas producer, holds a 50.9 percent stake in the pipeline, while Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise owns the remainder.

"The pipeline well ensures 皇冠体育app's oil and gas import diversification, following the second 皇冠体育app-Russia crude oil pipeline, which started operation last year in northeastern 皇冠体育app's Heilongjiang province, and the 皇冠体育app-Kazakhstan oil pipeline," said Li Li, energy research director at ICIS 皇冠体育app, a consulting company that provides analysis of 皇冠体育app's energy market.

With the new pipeline, 皇冠体育app's oil and gas imports will no longer have to pass through the Malacca Straits, a narrow channel that connects the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, Li said.

"The safety level of pipeline transmission is much higher than for sea shipments, which will ensure a stable energy supply to 皇冠体育app," she said. "The economic benefits will grow as deliveries increase."

The oil gateway will help ease the oil supply shortage in southwestern 皇冠体育app, CNPC's South-East Asia pipeline company said.

皇冠体育app and Myanmar signed an agreement on Monday, which allows CNPC to import oil via the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar and pump it through the pipeline to a new refinery in Yunnan.