Russia delivers 1.3 million tons of oil to Heilongjiang

Russia delivered over 1.3 million tons of crude oil to northeast China's Heilongjiang Province through a pipeline in January. The oil was worth 860 million U.S. dollars in total, accounting for nearly 89 percent of the total value of imports into the province, according to statistics from Harbin Customs.
The China-Russia oil pipeline enters China at Mohe and ends at Daqing. The Russian section of the pipeline was put into operation on Nov. 1, 2010 after more than one year of construction and carried 250,000 tons of oil to Mohe on Nov. 2.
After the China section was completed, another 300,000 tons of oil left Russia on Dec. 12 and arrived at Daqing on Dec. 19, marking a successful test run of the pipeline.
The pipeline, with a capacity of 2,100 cubic meters of oil per hour, was officially put into operation at 5:48 a.m. (0:48 a.m. Moscow time) on Jan. 1, 2011, marking the official start of a 20-year agreement to pump Russian oil to China.
Previously, China imported crude oil from Russia only by rail. The opening of the pipeline has not only greatly increased the oil shipments but also reduced transportation costs. This strategic energy pipeline is of great importance to diversify China's resource imports and enhance the security of energy supply as well as boost Heilongjiang's foreign trade, especially its imports.

By Zhang Hongyu, People s Daily Online
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