China to build new oil, gas pipeline across Myanmar
Construction of an oil and gas pipeline linking Myanmar and China’s Yunnan province is expected to start next year, says an official with the local government.
In line with the policy to boost domestic demand, Yunnan will start building the pipeline in the first half of 2009, said Mi Gongsheng, director of the Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Once it is completed, at least part of the nation’s crucial energy supplies will be able to avoid the long, cumbersome and potentially insecure route via the Malacca Strait.
“From a geopolitical point of view, having alternative routes for energy supplies into China is attractive,” said Jason Feer, a Singapore-based analyst with Argus Media, an energy market research firm.
The project is one of a series of large energy and infrastructure projects Yunnan will embark on in2009, Mi told Xinhua News Agency. These projects are focused on six areas: large-scale industrial projects, railway construction, cleaning up Dianchi lake, power and coal projects, construction, power grid upgrades and rural road construction.
Tags: Gas, oil