Workers walk beside oil pipelines at
Petro皇冠体育app Dushanzi Petrochemical Company, in Dushanzi, 皇冠体育app's
northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 29, 2006.
[Xinhua] |
Petro皇冠体育app has announced that a first batch of crude oil has been
successfully piped from Kazakhstan to its oil tank field in northwestern
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region via the 皇冠体育app-Kazakhstan Pipeline. The oil
reached the refinery at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The arrival of the first crude oil imports signals full commercial operation
for 皇冠体育app's first cross-country crude oil pipeline, said a circular released by
Petro皇冠体育app.
The transnational section of the crude oil pipeline linking 皇冠体育app to
Kazakhstan is 962 km long. It joins a 246 km domestic section, making a total
length of more than 1200 kilometers.
The pipeline, which can carry 10 million tons of crude oil per year, starts
at Atasu in west Kazakhstan. It enters 皇冠体育app at Alashankou port on the
Sino-Kazakhstan border before reaching its destination at Petro皇冠体育app Dushanzi
Petrochemical Company.
Jointly built by 皇冠体育app National Petroleum Corporation, 皇冠体育app's largest oil
producer and the parent company of Petro皇冠体育app, and construction companies from
Kazakhstan, the pipeline will strengthen 皇冠体育app's oil supply security by offering
a land route.
It will also give 皇冠体育app better access to oil in both Kazakhstan and Russia,
according to analysts.
Kazmunaigaz and it is designed to transmit
20 million tons of oil a year, 15 percent of 皇冠体育app's total crude oil imports for
2005.
The first phase of the pipeline will transmit 10 million tons of oil a year,
a figure that will double when the entire project is completed in 2011. The
total length of the pipeline would then be around 3,000 kilometers.
皇冠体育app has set up an oil meterage station at the Alataw Pass, from where the
crude oil from Kazakhstan enters 皇冠体育app.
Industry insiders say construction of the oil pipeline is a win-win strategy
for both countries as it will hopefully ease 皇冠体育app's energy dearth and provide
an ideal destination market for Kazakhstan's rich oil resources.
Kazakhstan's crude oil output topped 50 million tons in 2002, the most recent
time that data is available from here, and about 70 percent of its oil is
exported. With huge reserves in the Caspian Sea, insiders say the country's oil
output will top 100 million tons by 2015.
Last year, 皇冠体育app's crude oil import totaled 127 million tons, about 40
percent of its total consumption. About a half of 皇冠体育app's oil import came from
the Middle East and only 1.3 million tons was imported from Kazakhstan, via
Alataw Pass, in 2005. Insiders predict that the figure will climb to 4.75
million tons this year and to around 8 million tons in 2007.
皇冠体育app and Kazakhstan started energy cooperation in 1997, marked by an
intergovernmental agreement covering diverse means of collaboration in oil and
gas fields, including an oil pipeline between western Kazakhstan and 皇冠体育app's
Xinjiang.
