2017年CRI China Oil and Gas Pipeline Project to Power Myanmar Economy after Full Operation

 

An oil tanker¹ with a capacity of 300,000 tons docking in the Port of Maday Island on January 30, 2015 [Photo: courtesy of PetroChina Myanmar]

The economy of Myanmar is expected to see a boost from an oil and gas pipeline² project linking the country to China.

The authorities in the south-east Asian nation have now given the go ahead for the oil division of the Myanmar-China Oil & Gas Pipeline Project.

The move comes just days before the first official visit by Myanmar's president to Beijing since taking office a year ago.

CRI's Myanmar correspondent Tu Yun reports.

More than two years after the oil pipeline's completion, Myanmar's energy authority has finally given PetroChina, the operator of the project, the approval to put it into use.

The Myanmar-China oil pipeline is part of the 2.5-billion-dollar Myanmar-China Oil & Gas Pipeline Project, which also comprises a natural gas pipeline that's been in operation since July, 2013.

"To my knowledge, the Myanmar-China Oil & Gas Pipeline Project is the only major mature project of its kind in Myanmar."

Wang Guanghui is the manager of the project's Mandalay Operation Center.

"Our current users are mainly Myanmar local steel mills, power plants, and glass mills. In the case of the Mandalay off-take station, the downstream users are a glass factory and a natural gas generator³ plant."

The Myanmar-China gas pipeline starts near Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar's Rakhine State, and runs through its central region of Mandalay, northern towns of Lashio and Muse⁴ before entering China's southwestern province of Yunnan.

Under the deal signed between PetroChina and the Myanmar authorities, the gas pipeline carries natural gas from Myanmar's offshore⁵ fields to China with an annual capacity of up to 12 billion cubic meters, of which a maximum of 20 percent is provided to users in Myanmar.

"A number of foreign companies have set up natural gas power plants in Myanmar; they will be using natural gas carried by this pipeline in the future."

As the country has a nearly-300-megawatt gap between supply and demand for electricity, the Myanmar-China gas pipeline is expected to help bridge that gap once those power plants are put into operation.

As for the oil pipeline, which runs in parallel with the gas pipeline, it will have an annual capacity of 22 million tons of crude oil, with nearly 10 percent, or 2 million tons, being used in Myanmar, almost double the country's annual oil production.

The crude oil carried by the Myanmar-China pipelines⁶ is imported mainly from the Middle East.

A signing ceremony for the official operation of the oil pipeline is scheduled to be held in Beijing in some ten days during Myanmar President Htin Kyaw's upcoming China visit.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun reporting from Yangon.

1 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

4 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。