Published 23rd January, 2013
1,000km-long pipeline delivers a record amount of crude from Russia to China.
A pipeline, beginning in eastern Russian and ending in the northerly Chinese province of Heilongjiang, has delivered 30 million tonnes of crude oil in the two years since it began operating. The project is a milestone of cooperation between the two BRIC nations, and has been praised for reducing the cost and increasing efficiency of cross-border oil deliveries.
The 1,000km-long pipeline is slated to deliver 15 million tonnes of crude oil between the two neighbours annually from 2011 and 2030, with the imports helping to support China’s rapid industrial and economic expansion. Of the 450 million tonnes of crude consumed in China last year, 250 million tonnes, or 55%, were imported - a figure analysts believe may rise to 80% by 2030.