China secures Myanmar energy route

[FarCenter]

By Sudha Ramachandran http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KD03Df03.html

BANGALORE - China and Myanmar have signed an agreement for the construction of fuel pipelines that will transport Middle East and African crude oil from Myanmar's Arakan coast to China's southwestern Yunnan province - short-circuiting the long sea voyage past Singapore - while also drawing from Myanmar's own gas reserves.

Under the March 27 agreement, a gas pipeline will tap into Myanmar's reserves at the Shwe gas fields, and an oil pipeline will carry Middle East and African crude that is currently transported in tankers through the Malacca Strait to China.

Construction of the US$1.5 billion oil pipeline and the $1 billion gas pipeline will begin soon and is expected to be completed by 2013. China's largest oil and gas company, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), holds 50.9% stake in the project, with the rest owned by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

The roughly 2,000 kilometers of pipeline will cut through the heart of Myanmar, beginning near Kyaukphyu on the Arakan coast and running through Mandalay, Lashio and Muse before crossing into China at the border town of Ruili. The pipelines will terminate at Kunming in Yunnan province. A gas collection terminal and a port for oil tankers will be constructed on an island near Kyaukphyu. The entire cost of constructing the pipelines will be borne by China.

<snip>

Besides opening up a new source of gas in Myanmar for China, the pipeline project will strengthen China's bonds with Myanmar's military rulers and increase its already considerable influence over its neighbor. No less significant, the link will enhance China's energy security, helping to reduce China's excessive dependence on the Malacca Strait.

The 900km-long strait, which connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is one of the world's busiest shipping channels. Around 65,0000 vessels pass through it every year, carrying a quarter of the world's traded goods. Roughly a quarter of all oil transported by tankers passes through the strait, mainly from the Gulf and Africa to China, Japan and South Korea.

<snip>

From 2013, Chinese oil tankers from the Middle East and Africa will be able to cross the Bay of Bengal to dock at Myanmar's Sittwe and Kyaukphyu ports from where their cargo will be transported through pipelines to Yunnan. The transport time of fuel that bypasses the Malacca Strait in this way will be cut by a week.

<snip>

[B Whale]

1. Burma has the most evil regime on the planet today. I

would not expect anything less from the chinese government than supporting them.

[Idealism]

2. I think North Korea is worse

Burma is 3rd on my list, Erithea is second.

[B Whale]

3. agree witrh nort korea, don't know enough about

eritrea (although i have a mate with eritrean parents) please enlighten me...

[Idealism]

4. Authoritarian doesn't do the description of Eritean government justice

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025