BEIJING�The Chinese government has approved the construction of a major oil products pipeline in western China.
PetroChina Co. Ltd. plans to begin construction before the end of this year on the 1,207-km line between Lanzhou in the northwest and Chongqing in the southwest. Work will take about 18 months.
PetroChina owns four major refineries In Xinjiang and Gansu with a combined capacity of 380,000 b/d. The line will move products from Xinjiang and Gansu area refineries to markets in the southwest, where no major refineries exist. The products will include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and naphtha.
No foreign capital is involved in the $450 million line, which will cross Gansu and Sichuan provinces before terminating in Chongqing.
The first 867-km section of the line will extend from Lanzhou to Chengdu city, the capital of Sichuan province. It will be have a capacity of 5 million tonnes/year. The second, 340-km section will be rated at 2.5 million tonnes/year.