CNPC, KazMunayGas eye pipeline expansion

China National Petroleum Corp. and KazMunayGas have signed an agreement on principles of an expansion of the pipeline that carries crude oil from Atasu in western Kazakhstan to a PetroChina Co. Ltd. refinery at Dushanzi, China.

No capacity plans were reported. Current capacity of the 1,200-km pipeline, which started up in 2006, is 10 million tonnes/year (OGJ Online, July 31, 2006).

Signing of the preliminary agreement came during a state visit to China by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Oil & Gas Journal reports capacity of the Dushanzi refinery as 200,000 b/cd.