Pipeline to boost crude imports from Russia

China's crude oil imports from Russia are expected to double beginning next year, with necessary infrastructure work on the second Sino-Russian crude oil transmission pipeline being completed on Nov 12.

The pipeline, which will play a significant part in China's overall energy strategy, will help the country increase annual crude imports from Russia to 30 million metric tons and ensure the country's energy security, says Zhang Xinjia, deputy head of the PetroChina Pipeline Co, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas supplier and producer.

The 942-kilometer oil pipeline, from Mohe at the China-Russia border to the city of Daqing, is the China leg of the second East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline project pumping Russian crude oil to China.

The first 1,000-km East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline, which originates in the Russian town of Skovorodino in the Amur region, has been sending 15 million metric tons of crude oil each year to China since January 2011, delivering more than 104.92 million tons by September this year, according to the Heilongjiang Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

Analysts say the two countries, one being the world's second-largest energy consumer and the other the world's top oil producer, have always complemented each other as producers and exporters.

Li Li, energy research director at ICIS China, a consulting company providing energy market analysis, says the step will further guarantee China's energy diversification.

"The pipeline transmission will ensure the convenience of crude imports in China's northeastern province and ease the tension of offshore and port transportation," she says.

"The pipeline ensures a more stable energy transmission to China, and security of pipeline transportation is better than that of shipments by sea."

Li says the China-Russia crude oil pipeline, together with the China-Myanmar oil pipeline and the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline, will help diversify China's oil imports and ensure its energy security.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn