A recently completed oil pipeline became operational on Thursday
with crude oil flowing from Kazakhstan into Xinjiang in northwest China.
Oil arrived in Alataw Pass, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region, at 3:10 AM Thursday about 30 hours after
Kazakhstan had started to pump oil through the pipeline, according
to customs officers at the Pass.
Technicians with the Sino-Kazakh Oil Pipeline Co. Ltd opened the
valve on the China-Kazakhstan border at 7:32 PM Tuesday after
instructions were received from their Kazak counterparts in Atasu,
who started pumping oil into the pipeline at 8:22 PM.
Experts say construction of the oil pipeline is beneficial to
both countries as it improves?China's oil supply and provides
an ideal export outlet for Kazakhstan. ?
"It has provided a direct link between Kazakhstan's rich oil
resources and China's robust oil consumer market," said Yin Juntai,
deputy general-manager of China Petroleum Exploration and
Development Company.
Kairgeldy Kabyldin, vice president of Kazakhstan National
Petroleum and Natural Gas Company, described the pipeline as a "new
paradigm of cooperation" between the two countries.
The 962 kilometer pipeline, running between Atasu in Kazakhstan
to the Alataw Pass of Xinjiang, was completed in November 2005.
The?costs of US$700 million project were shared between the
two countries. It’s designed to carry 20 million tons of oil
annually.
In 2005 China imported 1.3 million tons of crude oil from
Kazakhstan via Alataw Pass. Business insiders predict the figure
will climb to 4.75 million tons this year and to around 8 million
tons in 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2006)