Construction of the 998-km oil pipeline, which began in September, 2004, is scheduled to be completed by December, 2005, according to CNPC spokesman Li Runsheng. An agreement on a cross-border oil pipeline linking Atasu in Kazakhstan to Alataw Pass in NW Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was signed on 17 May, 2004, between CNPC and the Kazakhstan national petroleum and natural gas company KMG. According to the agreement, the oil pipeline will be jointly laid by CNPC and KMG and, after completion, will carry 10 million tons/yr in its initial phase. A 252-km long extension will be constructed from Alataw Pass to Dushanzi oil refinery in Xinjiang, said Li. Constructed by the CNPC alone, the new oil pipeline broke ground recently, said Li.
The 448-km long oil pipeline in Kazakhstan linking Atyrau to Kenkiyak, jointly owned by CNPC and KMG, was completed in March, 2003. Built to meet the oil transportation demands of the oil-rich Aktyubinsk region, the pipeline was not included in the agreement on the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline. China’s imports of oil from Kazakhstan, the world’s third largest oil producer, currently travel hundreds of kilometres by rail to Xinjiang.