Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Nov 15 -- China National Petroleum Corp. and Kazakhstan's National Petroleum & Natural Gas Co. have completed construction of the 1,000-km Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline.
The new line, which extends from Atasu in Kazakhstan's central Karaganda region through the Alashankou rail crossing with China's western province of Xinjiang, is designed to carry 140 million bbl/year of crude from Kazakhstan to China starting Jan. 1, 2006.
In October, Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline also could be used by Russian oil companies.
Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, which currently transports oil to China by rail, has applied for permission to transport 1.2 million tonnes of oil via the Kazakhstan-China pipeline in 2006. OAO Lukoil also is said to have shown interest in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media said the Altaw Pass, where the final link in the pipeline was completed, is expected to become a hub for railway, road, and pipeline networks for the remote region in China's northwest.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].