More oil from Russia to China

The second line of the Russia-China oil pipeline has been put into operation, according to China National Petroleum Corp, the largest producer of petrochemical products in China. It is capable of shipping 15 million tons per year and will double the volume of oil from Russia to 30 million tons.

According to China.Daily, this will increase China's energy security, especially to fill supply gaps caused by falling oil production in northeast China.

The pipeline in China is 942 km long. The border crossing in Heilongjiang Province (northeastern China) crosses the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and ends at Daqing City in Heilongjiang.

Its construction began in August 2016 and ended last November. As noted by CNPC, the record for laying the pipeline (180 days) was broken in terms of implementation in extreme conditions.

In the section between Mohe and Daqing, a second pipeline was built parallel to the first, which was commissioned on January 1, 2011. So far, it has pumped a total of 110 million tons of crude oil.

In addition to the two pipelines, China imports large quantities of oil from Russia, transporting it by rail. With the launch of the second branch, Russia has become the largest exporter of crude oil to China.

China also imports over 60 percent of its natural gas imports from Russia. This year, the volume of the Eastern Route gas pipeline will reach 38 billion cubic meters.


Data from the National Bureau of Statistics also show that China's strategic crude oil reserves stood at 37.73 million tonnes in mid-2017.