June 12, 2007
Myanmar to Export
Natural Gas to Yunnan, China
Yangon
Myanmar plans to build a road, a railway and a natural gas link to
Yunnan, China, to foster closed economic ties with its neighbour to
the north, media reports said Tuesday.
Lieutenant General Thein Sein, first secretary of the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) - as Myanmar's junta styles itself -
confirmed during a recent visit to Kunming, Yunnan's capital, that
the country intends to export natural gas to Yunnan, said The New
Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Yunnan Communist Party chairman Bai Enpei met with Thein Sein on
June 8 to discuss economic relations, said the government
mouthpiece.
"In his address, the Secretary-1 said that Myanmar and China have
been making arrangements to cooperate in mining and hydro electric
power sector," said the newspaper. "Arrangemens are also being made
to export natural gas from Myanmar," Thein Sein added.
He also said that a road from Yunnan Province to Myitkyina in
Myanmar was under construction and arrangements are also being made
to build a railroad.
Thein Sein's comments appeared to confirm news reports that China
plans to build a natural gas pipeline to link Yunnan to Myanmar's
sizeable offshore gas reserves.
The Chinese government in April approved construction of an oil
pipeline from Sittwe, a port in southern Myanmar, to Kunming, the
capital of Yunnan province.
China also reportedly plans to invest 8 billion yuan (above $1
billion) to build a 2,380-km gas pipeline from Myanmar to Kunming.
The gas pipeline is designed to carry 170 billion cubic metres of
natural gas from the Middle East to southwestern China in the next
30 years, according to Chinese media reports.
China's three state-owned oil producers - Sinopec, CNPC and CNOOC -
all have major oil and gas exploitation projects in marine areas off
Myanmar.
In return, China has promised to grant a loan of 650 million Hong
Kong dollars ($83 million) to Myanmar for the development of its oil
industry.
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