A JV has been formed to transport crude oil from Kazakhstan to China. Each country holds 50 percent of share in the JV, reveals a senior official with the China National Petroleum Corporation on July 15.

In this May, China and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to finalize the plan of Sino-Kazak crude oil pipeline. The two countries will invest a total of 1 bln USD to build the 2nd section of the pipeline-the section from Atasu, Kazakhstan to Ala Mountain, China.

But both countries' share ratio in the project has remained pending. The Kazak government has a strong desire to dominate the pipeline project. In April, the Kazak PM Daniyal Akhmetov said at a regional economic forum that the government would try to get 51 percent of the share in the project.

But Kazakhstan finally gives up its desire to dominate the project in the face of converting the "oil" to "gold" in shortest time. As the world's 2nd largest oil consumption country, China's demand for crude oil is really attractive to Kazakhstan.

Running from Atasu, Kazakhstan to Ala Mountain, China, the pipeline is 1, 240 kms long. The construction will commence next month. It is estimated that the pipeline will transport 10 million tons annually at initial stage and the amount to be transported will gradually rise to 20 million tons.

By People's Daily Online