PetroChina Company Limited ADR (PTR)

[eFinanceMarkets]

China opens Myanmar pipeline, speeding delivery of Mideast crude

A crude oil pipeline to southwestern China through neighboring Myanmar has started operations after years of delays, and the first oil tanker carrying 140K metric tons (~1M barrels) of crude began offloading oil for delivery into the 480-mile pipeline.

The pipeline allows China to import crude from the Middle East and Africa more quickly, without having to ship through the Straits of Malacca and into the South China Sea.

The pipeline ends in China’s Yunnan province, where PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) has built an oil refinery with the capacity to process 13M tons/year (~261K bbl/day) of crude; the company is in talks with Saudi Arabia about investing in the plant, which will begin operations in June.