AI
Saturday, October 02, 2004 10:49:08 AM
China eyes other pipelines after rebuff from Russia
Given that the United States desires control of the Malacca Straits which would give them command of not only a third of global trade but half the world’s oil supplies which would include oil shipped from Saudi to China and that China with well over 80 percent of their imports being shipped through the narrow strait is considering a pipeline in Myanmar as a lifeline or alternative route I would look for the United States to instigate major upheavals in Myanmar.
#msg-3415458
Bush is depending on a significant amount of Kazakhstan oil to feed his U.S. backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and can’t be happy at the prospect of the Kazakhstan/China pipeline or that fact that the pipeline could be extended to Kazakhstan's even richer oil fields in the Caspian Sea area.
See also: China mulls oil pipelines in Myanmar, Thailand
#msg-4103878
-Am
China eyes other pipelines after rebuff from Russia
With plans for the Siberian link-up stalled, Beijing turns to Kazakhstan and Myanmar to secure oil supply
By Larry Teo
WITH the prospect of building an oil pipeline from Siberia to China's north-east receding by the day, a Beijing anxious about energy security is looking to Kazakhstan to help meet its needs.
Work began this week on a pipeline in this central Asian republic - formerly a part of the defunct Soviet Union - that is expected to pump oil into China's western Xinjiang province in a year.
Beijing and Astana have concluded what appears to be a win-win deal. Mr Zhanybek Karibzhanov, the Kazakh ambassador to China, was particularly bullish: 'When completed, this pipeline will attract a long queue of clients intending to sell oil to China.'
Meanwhile, another pipeline, though still being studied, has moved a step closer towards fruition.
This would link Myanmar's Akyab port to Ruili in China's south-west Yunnan province, conveying mainly oil shipped from the Middle East and Africa.
According to Professor Wang Chongli of Yunnan's Academy of Social Sciences, China is keen on the project because of Yangon's recent agreement to revive an old trade route that linked Yunnan to the Bay of Bengal.
Recent reports said that a group of Chinese engineers was at Myanmar's Irrawady River surveying the Bhamo port, which will be rebuilt into a transit point for goods headed for China or the Bay of Bengal.
'It's the attitude of the Myanmar government. Now they agree to have discussions. Previously, they refused,' Prof Wang told the media, suggesting that Beijing had put the pipeline on its drawing board.
'China's need for oil is great and urgent. Any pipeline, any route, would be beneficial.'
As China's oil import is expected to rise to 12.7 million barrels a day by 2020, from 6.2 million this year, Beijing is turning increasingly to cross-border pipelines to secure supply.
But during his trip last weekend to Moscow, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao failed to win a commitment from the Russians to build the proposed pipeline linking Siberian oil fields to north-eastern China.
According to Russia, it will make its decision early next year. Mr Wen was only assured of delivery of 10 million tonnes of crude by rail next year and 15 million tonnes in 2006.
Russia's coolness towards China has raised the hopes of Japan, another contender for the Siberian crude, that Moscow would run the pipeline to Nakhodka on the Pacific coast, where oil can be loaded onto Japan-bound tankers.
Ms Liu Ming, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, thinks the Beijing government is partly to blame for Russia's cool response.
The courtship had begun 10 years ago but China's negotiator, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), did not receive Beijing's support until Mr Wen's trip.
Singling out Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's effort in wooing the Russians, Ms Liu said: 'Our government should do the same for our own oil men abroad, giving them back-up when necessary.
'Also, China needs a truly specialised energy body to handle such matters.'
Luckily for China, the uncertainty in the north is being compensated for in the west.
The success in Kazakhstan, in fact, has its roots in 1997, when CNPC succeeded in acquiring stakes in the Kazakh oil company Aktobe Munaigas.
When oil starts flowing next year from Kazakhstan, China will get 10 million tonnes a year. This will be doubled in 2011.
In fact, the pipeline can be extended to Kazakhstan's even richer oil fields in the Caspian Sea area.
Said the People's Daily: 'China's energy diplomacy relating to Russia, Kazakhstan and Myanmar are of great importance as they concern supplies which could sustain the country during a crisis.
'And each plan can be a back-up for the others. This shows China has learnt to put its eggs in as many baskets as possible, leaving nothing to chance.'
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,275693,00.html
Burma is now called Myanmar
Given that the United States desires control of the Malacca Straits which would give them command of not only a third of global trade but half the world’s oil supplies which would include oil shipped from Saudi to China and that China with well over 80 percent of their imports being shipped through the narrow strait is considering a pipeline in Myanmar as a lifeline or alternative route I would look for the United States to instigate major upheavals in Myanmar.
#msg-3415458
Bush is depending on a significant amount of Kazakhstan oil to feed his U.S. backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and can’t be happy at the prospect of the Kazakhstan/China pipeline or that fact that the pipeline could be extended to Kazakhstan's even richer oil fields in the Caspian Sea area.
See also: China mulls oil pipelines in Myanmar, Thailand
#msg-4103878
-Am
China eyes other pipelines after rebuff from Russia
With plans for the Siberian link-up stalled, Beijing turns to Kazakhstan and Myanmar to secure oil supply
By Larry Teo
WITH the prospect of building an oil pipeline from Siberia to China's north-east receding by the day, a Beijing anxious about energy security is looking to Kazakhstan to help meet its needs.
Work began this week on a pipeline in this central Asian republic - formerly a part of the defunct Soviet Union - that is expected to pump oil into China's western Xinjiang province in a year.
Beijing and Astana have concluded what appears to be a win-win deal. Mr Zhanybek Karibzhanov, the Kazakh ambassador to China, was particularly bullish: 'When completed, this pipeline will attract a long queue of clients intending to sell oil to China.'
Meanwhile, another pipeline, though still being studied, has moved a step closer towards fruition.
This would link Myanmar's Akyab port to Ruili in China's south-west Yunnan province, conveying mainly oil shipped from the Middle East and Africa.
According to Professor Wang Chongli of Yunnan's Academy of Social Sciences, China is keen on the project because of Yangon's recent agreement to revive an old trade route that linked Yunnan to the Bay of Bengal.
Recent reports said that a group of Chinese engineers was at Myanmar's Irrawady River surveying the Bhamo port, which will be rebuilt into a transit point for goods headed for China or the Bay of Bengal.
'It's the attitude of the Myanmar government. Now they agree to have discussions. Previously, they refused,' Prof Wang told the media, suggesting that Beijing had put the pipeline on its drawing board.
'China's need for oil is great and urgent. Any pipeline, any route, would be beneficial.'
As China's oil import is expected to rise to 12.7 million barrels a day by 2020, from 6.2 million this year, Beijing is turning increasingly to cross-border pipelines to secure supply.
But during his trip last weekend to Moscow, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao failed to win a commitment from the Russians to build the proposed pipeline linking Siberian oil fields to north-eastern China.
According to Russia, it will make its decision early next year. Mr Wen was only assured of delivery of 10 million tonnes of crude by rail next year and 15 million tonnes in 2006.
Russia's coolness towards China has raised the hopes of Japan, another contender for the Siberian crude, that Moscow would run the pipeline to Nakhodka on the Pacific coast, where oil can be loaded onto Japan-bound tankers.
Ms Liu Ming, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, thinks the Beijing government is partly to blame for Russia's cool response.
The courtship had begun 10 years ago but China's negotiator, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), did not receive Beijing's support until Mr Wen's trip.
Singling out Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's effort in wooing the Russians, Ms Liu said: 'Our government should do the same for our own oil men abroad, giving them back-up when necessary.
'Also, China needs a truly specialised energy body to handle such matters.'
Luckily for China, the uncertainty in the north is being compensated for in the west.
The success in Kazakhstan, in fact, has its roots in 1997, when CNPC succeeded in acquiring stakes in the Kazakh oil company Aktobe Munaigas.
When oil starts flowing next year from Kazakhstan, China will get 10 million tonnes a year. This will be doubled in 2011.
In fact, the pipeline can be extended to Kazakhstan's even richer oil fields in the Caspian Sea area.
Said the People's Daily: 'China's energy diplomacy relating to Russia, Kazakhstan and Myanmar are of great importance as they concern supplies which could sustain the country during a crisis.
'And each plan can be a back-up for the others. This shows China has learnt to put its eggs in as many baskets as possible, leaving nothing to chance.'
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,275693,00.html
Burma is now called Myanmar
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