The 793 km gas pipeline between the Shwe gas fields offshore Myanmar and Kunming in Yunnan (China) has been commissioned. Construction started in June 2010. The gas pipeline has a transmission capacity of 12 bcm/year and follows a parallel route to a 22 Mt/year crude oil pipeline. The two pipelines were developed by joint ventures between state-owned CNPC and Myanmar’s national petroleum company Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. Four other companies from India and South Korea also have stakes in the project.
Despite their marginal weight in China's oil and gas consumption, these pipelines are very strategic, eliminating the need for tankers from the Middle East to pass through the crowded Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia.
