China opens valve for Myanmar gas pipeline
A 793-kilometer natural gas pipeline (see map here) linking China’s Yunnan province with the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar opened on July 28, a Chinese state company said.
The major Chinese project is one of the last large committed investments made into Myanmar that are just coming to fruition. However, its commencement of operations marks the beginning of more long-term business relations.
The lengthy pipeline is expected to transfer 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually, according to state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Capital-starved Myanmar will thus find itself interlocked with China, which is looking to serve its own voracious hungry for energy.
The pipeline is also a strategic move for Beijing, which is eyeing the piping system to also funnel oil directly into the country, avoiding the crowded and risky Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Besides natural gas, China has been scouring Myanmar for its natural resources for years before the country begin playing out a reformist agenda.
China has taken the most flak for its construction of the controversial Myitsone mega-dam, which would displace thousands of indigenous people that believe the land is sacred. A fair amount of negative press has also been generated over mining contracts that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has supported.
A 793-kilometer natural gas pipeline (see map here) linking China’s Yunnan province with the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar opened on July 28, a Chinese state company said. The major Chinese project is one of the last large committed investments made into Myanmar that are just coming to fruition. However, its commencement of operations marks the beginning of more long-term business relations. The lengthy pipeline is expected to transfer 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually, according to state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Capital-starved Myanmar will thus find itself interlocked with China, which is looking to serve...
A 793-kilometer natural gas pipeline (see map here) linking China’s Yunnan province with the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar opened on July 28, a Chinese state company said.
The major Chinese project is one of the last large committed investments made into Myanmar that are just coming to fruition. However, its commencement of operations marks the beginning of more long-term business relations.
The lengthy pipeline is expected to transfer 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually, according to state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Capital-starved Myanmar will thus find itself interlocked with China, which is looking to serve its own voracious hungry for energy.
The pipeline is also a strategic move for Beijing, which is eyeing the piping system to also funnel oil directly into the country, avoiding the crowded and risky Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Besides natural gas, China has been scouring Myanmar for its natural resources for years before the country begin playing out a reformist agenda.
China has taken the most flak for its construction of the controversial Myitsone mega-dam, which would displace thousands of indigenous people that believe the land is sacred. A fair amount of negative press has also been generated over mining contracts that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has supported.
