Brightening Up the Silk Road

By+Wang+Jun

At 10：55 p.m. November 13， the screen of the control center of China National Petroleum Corp. （CNPC） reached a milestone， reading that the China-Central Asia natural gas pipelines had been in safe operation for 1，796 days and delivered a total of 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China.

The next day， Qu Guangxue， spokesman of CNPC， announced that， since putting into operation in 2006， the China-Kazakhstan oil pipelines had delivered over 70 million tons of crude oil to China.

Energy cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is a powerful engine stimulating the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

During his two separate visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013， Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the Belt and Road Initiatives to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road in a bid to revive the historic trade routes by boosting cooperation between China and other Asian nations.

At a dialogue meeting on strengthening connectivity and improving cooperation in the countrys neighborhood， held in Beijing in November， Xi said China will contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk Road Fund.

“As an important force for the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt， CNPC has accelerated oil and gas cooperation in Central Asia，”Qu said. “Connecting Turkmenistan， Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with China and other Asian countries， China-Central Asia oil and gas pipe- lines are like bright lights illuminating the Silk Road Economic Belt，” said Qu.

Mutual benefits

Energy cooperation between China and Central Asia countries， which are complementary in economic structures and resources， will boost common prosperity and bring benefits to all the countries.

Central Asia is a region with abundant reserves of oil and gas resources. According to Qu， the total natural gas reserves in Turkmenistan， Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan account for one seventh of the worlds to-tal. Turkmenistan alone has natural gas reserves of 17.5 trillion cubic meters， accounting for one ninth of the worlds total. Kazakhstan is the 11th largest country of oil and gas resources in the world， holding 3.3 percent of the worlds crude oil reserves. As the largest energy consumer in the world， China offers a huge market for the oil and gas exports of Central Asia.

Oil and gas cooperation between China and Central Asia is also of great significance to China. According to Qu， natural gas imported from Central Asia has covered users in 25 Chinese provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions as well as Hong Kong， benefiting more than 500 million people.

The 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas delivered by the ChinaCentral Asia gas pipelines can replace consumption of 133 million tons of coal， reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by 142 million tons and those of sulfur dioxide by 2.2 million tons.

“Central Asian countries will benefit more from cooperation with China，” Qu emphasized.

According to him， through cooperation with Chinese companies， Central Asian countries have gained funds and technologies to accelerate the development of their petroleum industries. Through cooperation with Central Asian companies， CNPC has paid more than $30 billion in taxes to the host countries of resources and has created 34，000 job opportunities for local people. The company has also spent more than $200 million on improving the public welfare of local people.

Broad prospects

At present， CNPCs China-Central Asia oil and gas pipeline projects include three gas pipelines—lines A， B and C—and a China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline， said Wu Junli， spokesman of China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp.， a subsidiary of CNPC. According to him， construction of Line D of the China-Central Asia gas pipelines is already in the works， and the expansion project of the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline is in process. “Energy cooperation between China and Central Asia keeps strengthening，” said Wu.

According to Cao Yaming， General Manager of CNPC Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Co. Ltd.， Line D runs through Turkmenistan， Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and ends in Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A total length of 1，000 km， the line has 840 km outside China. With an expected delivery capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year and a planned investment of $6.7 billion， Line D is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

“The same as lines A， B and C， Line D is also a project that will benefit the host countries of resources， countries along the line and energy consuming countries. Different from the other three lines， Line D enters China from the south of Xinjiang， and gas imported through this line will mainly input to the market of north China，” said Cao， adding that this line is of great significance to guarantee Chinas energy security， boost economic development in south Xinjiang and control air pollution in north China.

Investments in the countries along Line D are all big projects in these countries. It will bring thousands of job opportunities and create billions of dollars of income for these countries within the 30 years of operational period.

Cao said Line D will run through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for the first time， and together with lines A， B and C that run through Turkmenistan， Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan， all five Central Asian countries will be connected with China by the China-Central Asia gas pipelines.

By 2020 when Line D will be completed and put into operation， the China-Central Asia gas pipelines will have a total delivery capacity of 85 billion cubic meters per year， and together with the oil pipelines， the annual equivalent weight of oil and the gas delivery capacity will total 90 million tons each year.

According to Wu， this year is the 17th year CNPC has entered the energy market of Central Asia. The company has established complete petroleum industrial chains including exploration， pipeline transportation， oil refining and sales， setting an example for the companys overseas operations. “Central Asia will be of strategic importance to CNPCs overseas operations，” Wu said.