The Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline is

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's first direct oil import pipeline allowing oil import from Central Asia. It runs from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

shore to

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

in China. The pipeline is owned by the

China National Petroleum Corporation The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...

and the Kazakh state-owned oil company

KazMunayGas KazMunayGas (KMG) () is the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan.Aktobe Aktobe (, ; ) is a major city located on the Ilek River in western Kazakhstan. It serves as the administrative center of the Aktobe Region and is an important cultural, economic, and industrial hub in the region. As of 2023, the city has a popu ...

region's oil fields to

Atyrau Atyrau (, ; , ; ), known until 1991 as Guryev (), is a city in Kazakhstan and the capital of Atyrau Region. Atyrau is a transcontinental city, at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, between Europe and Asia, west of Almaty and east o ...

was completed in 2003. The construction of the pipeline from Zhanaarka (former Atasu) to Alashankou started in September 2004 and was completed in December 2005. The construction of the Kenkiyak–Kumkol section was agreed between Kazakhstan and China on 18 August 2007. This section was completed on 11 July 2009. The pipeline was developed by the China National Petroleum Corporation and the Kazakh oil company KazMunayGas. Currently capacity is at 14 million tons per year. The pipeline is expected to reach nominal capacity of 20 million tons per year in 2014.

Technical description

The long pipeline runs from

Alashankou Alashankou is a border city in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge. Overview The city is located ...

in China's Xinjiang. The Kenkiyak-Atyrau section of the pipeline is long and has a capacity of . Capacity of the pipeline maybe upgraded to in the future. The pipeline was built and is operated by MunaiTas a joint venture between the China National Petroleum Corporation and KazMunayGas. The Zhanaarka-Alashankou section of the pipeline cost US$700 million. It is long and has a capacity of . Capacity of this section might be upgraded to by 2011. The pipeline includes an oil metering station at the Alataw Pass. The pipeline was built and is operated by a joint venture between CNODC and KazTrans Oil JSC. The first oil through this pipeline reached the refinery in August 2006. The Kenkiyak-Kumkol section is long. It has initial transportation capacity of 10 million tons per year. This section has reached its full capacity in 2011.

Alashankou–Dushanzi Crude Oil Pipeline

In Alashankou, the pipeline is connected with the Alashankou–Dushanzi Crude Oil Pipeline, which is a long pipeline connecting the Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline with Dushanzi District. The capacity of pipeline is 10 million tons of oil per year and it supplies mainly the Dushanzi refinery. The pipeline became operational on 21 December 2005 and the first oil through this pipeline reached to the refinery on 29 July 2006. The pipeline is constructed and operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Oil supplies

The Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline is supplied from the Aktobe region's fields and from the Kumkol oil field. In the future, the main supply source will be Kashagan field. The pipeline is used also for the transportation of oil from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's western

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

by connection with the

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

(Russia)–

Pavlodar Pavlodar (; ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located northeast of the national capital Astana and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. In 2010, the city had a popul ...

(Kazakhstan)–

Shymkent Shymkent (, ; ) is a city in southern Kazakhstan, located near the border with Uzbekistan. It holds the status of a city of republican significance, one of only three cities in Kazakhstan with this distinction, alongside Almaty and Astana. As of ...

–

Türkmenabat Türkmenabat (), formerly Amul, Cärjew/Chardzhou (until 1924 and from 1940-1999), and Novy Chardzhuy (from 1927-1940), is the second-largest city in Turkmenistan and the administrative centre of Lebap Province. , it had a population of approxima ...

(

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

) pipeline in Zhanaarka oil terminal. Oil is transported through this pipeline by Russian companies

TNK-BP TNK-BP (, ) was a major vertically integrated Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. It was Russia's third-largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. In 2013 it was acquired by Russian oil company R ...

and

Gazprom Neft Gazprom Neft (; formerly Sibneft, ) is the third largest oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about 96% of its shares. The company is registered and headquartered in ...

References

External links

*Chow, Edward, "Central Asia’s Pipelines: Field of Dreams and Reality," i
Pipeline Politics in Asia: The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes
(

National Bureau of Asian Research The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is an American non-profit research institution based in Seattle, Washington, with a branch office in Washington, D.C. NBR brings together specialists, policymakers, and business leaders to examine e ...

, 2010)
The Geopolitics of Oil Pipelines in Central Asia
Article on the Kazakhstan-China pipelines featured in Vestnik, the Journal of Russian and Asian Studies Winter 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline Oil pipelines in Kazakhstan Oil pipelines in China Energy in Siberia Energy in Central Asia China–Kazakhstan relations

Technical description

Alashankou–Dushanzi Crude Oil Pipeline

Oil supplies

See also

References

External links