Promoting plural energy supply

Baidildin, Kazakh Commercial Counsellor to China, said in an exclusive interview with People's Daily that the construction of a oil pipeline from Atasu of The Republic of Kazakhstan to the Alataw Pass of People's Republic of China was officially launched on 28 September 2004.

Appearing first on People's Daily in last May the news about the construction of an oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to China has finally come true. According to the agreement signed by PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas company, and Kazakhstanmunaygaz, Kazakhstan's national oil and gas stock company, the first section of the project starts from Atasu in western Kazakhstan to the Alataw Pass on the Sino-Kazakhstan boarder in the east, extending a total distance of 1,240 km and an annual oil transportation capacity of 10 million tons.

As revealed by Baidildin, there would be a grand opening ceremony in Atasu on Tuesday and Kazak Prime Minister would be on the scene if everything went on well as planned. Chen Geng, general manager of PetroChina, head of the delegation, has already arrived in Atasu in advance and had business talks with Kazakhstanmunaygaz President.

Sino-Kazakhstan oil pipeline project was initiated in the 1990s, and was brought forward together with Sino-Russian oil pipeline project. According to the authority, from 1997 to 1999, China and Kazakhstan had finished the feasibility research report on the pipeline construction with the estimated total cost of USD 3 billion. However, according to the initial intention the pipeline should be brought to completion and put into operation in 2005 yet at that time, Kazakhstan's annual oil output couldn't satisfy the lowest annual supply of 20 million ton oil, a minimum guarantee for the pipeline's profitable operation. Therefore the whole construction was called to a halt.

Kazakhstan is a Caspian country that has strategic importance in energy resources. According to the statistics released by the US Department of Energy, the total oil reserve in Caspian Sea region is estimated at 50 to 190 billion barrels, among which 40 to 50 percent are concentrated near the Caspian Sea continental shelf in Kazakhstan. With its entry into Kazakhstan in the later half of 1990s, PetroChina has won part of the share of Aktyubinsk Oil and Gas Stock Company, and further gained the exploration right in the Aktyubinsk oil and gas field.

Experts point out that the breakthrough in the construction of Sino-Kazakhstan oil pipeline marked the great achievement that China has made in the effect of promoting plural energy supply. It will beyond doubt heighten the China's initiative in the "pipeline games" with Japan and Russia.

By People's Daily Online