China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline put into operation

MADE ISLAND, Myanmar, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A 140,000-ton crude oil tanker "Suezmax" began offloading crude oil at Made Island oil port in Myanmar's western Rakhine state on Monday after the signing of a China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline transmission agreement in Beijing earlier in the day.

Made Island oil port is the starting point of the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline which is part of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project.

The commencement of transmission of crude oil shows that the two countries have entered a new phase of energy cooperation.

The crude oil pipeline starts in Made Island, extends as long as 771 kilometers, and ends in China's Yunnan Province. The pipeline passes through Myanmar's Rakhine state, Magway and Mandalay regions and Shan state.

Built since June 2010, the oil pipeline has a designed transmission capacity of 22 million tons per year.

Once the pipeline is put into operation, Myanmar can also be provided with 2 million tons of crude oil through it annually.