China-Myanmar Cooperation: News & Discussions

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

The China-Myanmar gas pipeline, owned by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), imported 1.87 billion m3 of gas in its first year of operations.

The pipeline is part of an ambitious US$ 2.5 billion oil and gas project between the two countries. It stretches over 2400 km from the Shwe fields in the Indian Ocean, through Myanmar to the city of Kunming, China. The pipeline should be able to transport around 12 billion m3/y of gas once it reaches full capacity. According to CNPC, a parallel oil pipeline, which is due to come online later this year, will carry up to 440 000 bbls/d of oil.

China-Myanmar pipeline ships 1.87 billion m3 of gas to China

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We should find the way to connect this pipeline to Tibet

 

[BoQ77]

the refinery plant building in Kunming still not start

 

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

the refinery plant building in Kunming still not start

Need refinery for gas? that's new to me.

 

[BoQ77]

Did you read ?

Need refinery for gas? that's new to me.

 

[cirr]

Thursday, October 16, 2014

China approves rail links to Myanmar and Laos

Written by Keith Barrow



CHINA's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved plans for the construction of the country's first rail links to Laos and Myanmar, together with a major project to increase capacity for coal traffic from Inner Mongolia.

In the southern province of Yunnan, the NRDC has given the go-ahead to a 504km electrified line which will link Yuxi near Kunming with Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, and Mohan on the border with Laos.

The total cost of the project is Yuan 44.51bn ($US 7.27bn), including Yuan 1.37bn for rolling stock, and the Asian Development Bank is expected to finance construction with a $US 350m loan, which will be repaid by China Railway Corporation (CRC).

In western Yunnan, a 330km line will be built linking Dali on the southern shore of Erhai Lake with the Myanmar border at Ruili. The line will be electrified and designed for operation at up to 140km/h. The total budget for the project will be Yuan 25.73bn, including Yuan 330m for rolling stock.

CRC will fund 85% of the project through its annual capital budget and other sources, with the remaining 15% coming from the Yunnan government. Construction is expected to take seven years to complete.

The NDRC has also approved a Yuan 25.64bn project to increase freight capacity between coal mines around Bayan Nur in Inner Mongolia and the port of Jinzhou in the eastern province of Liaoning, a distance of around 600km. The four-year project will increase freight capacity on the route to around 150 million tonnes.

China approves rail links to Myanmar and Laos

 

[cirr]

New rail projects to boost growth

Updated: 2014-10-17 10:10

By Lan Lan(China Daily)

China's top economic planner on Thursday announced the approval of three new rail projects as part of the ongoing drive to rejuvenate the economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission said it approved two rail projects in Yunnan province. One is a line costing 44.5 billion yuan ($7.24 million) linking Yuxi and Mohan and another, costing 25.7 billion yuan, will run between Dali and Ruili.

Another 25.6 billion yuan will be spent to expand rail capacity in northern China, linking Jinzhou port in Liaoning province and Baiyinhua, Inner Mongolia, the regulator said on its website on Thursday.

Experts said the announcement shows the NDRC is using the existing budget on projects that will bolster the economy, but added investment beyond budget is unlikely.

Rail projects in central and western China, along with urban renovation and water conservation projects, are crucial in boosting investment growth, NDRC representative Li Pumin said.

Fixed-asset investment climbed 16.5 percent in the first eight months, less than the 20.3 percent recorded in the same period last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The declining pace of investment growth is expected to shift in the coming months," said Li at a news conference earlier this week.

The government aims to make investment play a critical role in supporting growth, he said.

This year's central budget for investment is 457.6 billion yuan, about 20 billion yuan higher than last year.

Spending under the central budget will focus on areas where the market cannot play an efficient role, such as agriculture, infrastructure construction, public services, energy conservation and environmental protection.

China raised its investment budget for water projects by 7 percent to 76.7 billion yuan in 2014. The country plans to start construction on 172 major water projects by 2020. Total investment on projects currently being built could amount to about 600 billion yuan.

Yang Ping, a researcher with the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the NDRC, said that the new projects are "within budget" and extra investment beyond that is unlikely.

But the government will spend allocated funds faster to help support the economy, said Yang.

China's economic volatility in recent months has spurred some financial institutions to slash their forecasts for growth.

Premier Li Keqiang said during his recent visit to Germany that China can achieve economic growth of around 7.5 percent this year.


New rail projects to boost growth

 

[DoTell]

What about Vetnam? Oh I forgot "nam" is already building links with Japan, Philipines and super powa India

 

[alaungphaya]

The Myanmar part of the project has been cancelled I think due to local resistance.

China’s cancelled Burma railway is its latest derailment in southeast Asia – Quartz


A $20-billion Burmese railroad project that would link the Chinese province of Yunnan to the Bay of Bengal was cancelled this week due to fears over the project’s environment impact and objections from the public. It was the latest backlash to China’s attempt to expand its influence in its “near abroad” of southeast Asia.

The railway between Burmese city of Kyaukpyu and the Chinese city of Kunming was supposed to follow the gas and oil pipelines (the former is operational, the latter almost finished) that have been the target of widespread protests by Burmese who are outraged that a country largely without electric power is shipping its natural resources to China.

From the sea to Yunnan.
Civil society groups in Burma have long protested the Sino-Burmese railway, with groups in the country’s Rakhine state saying it was one of 10 major infrastructure projects—including the China gas pipeline, major mining works, and hydropower projects—that were granted without the approval of local people who would be affected. Under a memorandum of understanding that has now expired, China was to finance most of the cost of the railroad in exchange for a 50-year concession to operate it.

“This is because we care about the people’s desires. Most people view the project as having more disadvantages than advantages,” a Burmese official told German press agency DPA.

Burma, also known as Myanmar, was once a major Chinese ally, but it has increasingly asserted its independence from Beijing since dissolving its military junta in 2012. China’s investment in the country has plunged accordingly—from nearly $13 billion in 2011 to just $407 million in 2012 after the transition to democracy.

China’s relations with many of its other neighbors in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), who have long been used to living in the country’s shadow, haven’t fared much better.

Beijing’s controversial provocations in the South China Sea have already generated a upswell of public anger this year in Vietnam and the Philippines, both major Chinese trading partners that have also clashed with Beijing over disputed islands and offshore drilling rights. China’s ties with Malaysia were also strained this year after the disappearance and bungled Malaysian investigation into a missing aircraft that had 154 Chinese citizens abroad, and by the kidnapping of a Chinese woman from a Malaysian resort.

But Beijing does still have one rock-solid ally in the region. In Laos it is building a controversial railroad, again from Yunnan province, to the Lao capital Vientiane, financed by a $7.2 billion loan to the Lao government—equivalent to 75% of the country’s GDP. China’s state-owned news service Xinhua reported this week that since the Burma project has been halted, China will proceed with its planned “Trans-Asian Railway” through Laos:

(Radio Free Asia)
And if China is looking for more friends in the region, it may have find some in the form of Thailand’s military junta, which recently took over the country in a bloodless coup d’etat. Beijing voiced support for the new military rulers, and is strengthening its ties to Thailand. Bangkok is a long-standing US ally, but China is also Thailand’s biggest trading partner.

My opinion is that the railway should go ahead. Linking China's South West with the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar is an inevitability.

 

[TaiShang]

Pipeline boosts energy security

China Daily, January 29, 2015

China's energy supply security was strengthened further on Wednesday when a crude oil pipeline linking the country's southwest and Myanmar's coastal city of Kyaukpyu began operating.

On Friday, a 300,000-ton oil tanker will arrive at the deep-sea port of Maday Island in the city, which lies off Myanmar's western coast.

"The new pipeline will serve as an alternative route for China's crude oil imports from the Middle East, and will greatly save time on such crude deliveries," said Li Li, research and strategy director at ICIS-C1 Energy, a consultancy in Shanghai.

She said up to 30 percent of delivery time will be saved with completion of the pipeline. More important, China will be less dependent on the Strait of Malacca.

At present, about 80 percent of China's crude imports have to pass through the strait.

"The safety level of pipelines is much higher than for sea shipments, which will ensure a stable energy supply to China," Li said. "The economic benefits will grow as deliveries increase."

According to China National Petroleum Corp, the pipeline's Chinese operator, the new link has an annual capacity of 22 million metric tons. The pipeline runs for 771 km in Myanmar and 1,631 km in China.

Total investment in the pipeline and the Maday oil unloading terminal was about $2.45 billion, with $1.20 billion coming from Myanmar and $1.24 billion from China.

Following an agreement reached by Myanmar's Ministry of Energy and CNPC, the two countries started to build crude and gas pipelines in 2010. The natural gas pipeline became operational in late September 2013.

Li Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said that as China's natural gas consumption soars to meet domestic demand and reduce carbon emissions, diversified channels are needed for energy imports.

Myanmar has proved natural gas reserves of 2,540 billion cubic meters and crude reserves of 3.2 billion barrels. It has an annual output of 40 million barrels of crude and 8 million cubic meters of natural gas, according to public data.

ICIS-C1 Energy said CNPC is building a large refinery with an annual capacity of 10 million tons in Kunming, Yunnan province.

"The crude delivered by the Sino-Myanmar pipeline will very likely be processed in the refinery," said an insider close to the company.

Myanmar Vice-President U Nyan Tun said the pipeline will also unload crude oil to Myanmar, promoting the country's economic development.

"In addition to increasing our country's incomes and improving energy efficiency, the project also creates abundant work opportunities," he said.

Liao Yongyuan, general manager of CNPC, said the project will enhance the two countries' cooperation in the trade and energy sector.

 

[TaiShang]

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Is the cost of transport via the pipeline competitive with the sea shipping? I'm asking because shipping via sea is generally much more economical than any other means. I read in a report recently that one of the alternate routes via Gwadar port, all the way up Pakistan, through Azad Kashmir to Xinjiang, costs substantially more than similar sea based shipping cost.

 

[Nan Yang]

Well, it sure beat piping the oil or gas from the East coast all across China to Xinjiang.

 

[Aepsilons]

Pipeline boosts energy security

China Daily, January 29, 2015

China's energy supply security was strengthened further on Wednesday when a crude oil pipeline linking the country's southwest and Myanmar's coastal city of Kyaukpyu began operating.

On Friday, a 300,000-ton oil tanker will arrive at the deep-sea port of Maday Island in the city, which lies off Myanmar's western coast.

"The new pipeline will serve as an alternative route for China's crude oil imports from the Middle East, and will greatly save time on such crude deliveries," said Li Li, research and strategy director at ICIS-C1 Energy, a consultancy in Shanghai.

She said up to 30 percent of delivery time will be saved with completion of the pipeline. More important, China will be less dependent on the Strait of Malacca.

At present, about 80 percent of China's crude imports have to pass through the strait.

"The safety level of pipelines is much higher than for sea shipments, which will ensure a stable energy supply to China," Li said. "The economic benefits will grow as deliveries increase."

According to China National Petroleum Corp, the pipeline's Chinese operator, the new link has an annual capacity of 22 million metric tons. The pipeline runs for 771 km in Myanmar and 1,631 km in China.

Total investment in the pipeline and the Maday oil unloading terminal was about $2.45 billion, with $1.20 billion coming from Myanmar and $1.24 billion from China.

Following an agreement reached by Myanmar's Ministry of Energy and CNPC, the two countries started to build crude and gas pipelines in 2010. The natural gas pipeline became operational in late September 2013.

Li Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said that as China's natural gas consumption soars to meet domestic demand and reduce carbon emissions, diversified channels are needed for energy imports.

Myanmar has proved natural gas reserves of 2,540 billion cubic meters and crude reserves of 3.2 billion barrels. It has an annual output of 40 million barrels of crude and 8 million cubic meters of natural gas, according to public data.

ICIS-C1 Energy said CNPC is building a large refinery with an annual capacity of 10 million tons in Kunming, Yunnan province.

"The crude delivered by the Sino-Myanmar pipeline will very likely be processed in the refinery," said an insider close to the company.

Myanmar Vice-President U Nyan Tun said the pipeline will also unload crude oil to Myanmar, promoting the country's economic development.

"In addition to increasing our country's incomes and improving energy efficiency, the project also creates abundant work opportunities," he said.

Liao Yongyuan, general manager of CNPC, said the project will enhance the two countries' cooperation in the trade and energy sector.

Excellent development.

 

[TaiShang]

By shortening the route and reducing dependency on the Malacca Strait, the Sino-Burma pipeline both reduces cost and also contributes to China's energy security which is heavily dependent on sea routes.

 

[Aepsilons]

By shortening the route and reducing dependency on the Malacca Strait, the Sino-Burma pipeline both reduces cost and also contributes to China's energy security which is heavily dependent on sea routes.

Really smart move and strategic at that. You're right, it puts less stress on traveling through Malaccas Strait, not to mention the length of time and capital wasted on such a journey. Also, its really good to see China developing energy routes, besides the pipeline in the North with Russia and the one in the West vis-a-vis Iran, and one through Pakistan, this one through Burma enables free flow of energy and limits the geographic restrictions.

Not to mention how this helps the Burmese port communities develop.