China-Myanmar gas pipeline to open in May

China state-owned oil company CNPC will start operation of a gas pipeline that runs between Myanmar and southwest China by the end of May, freeing China from reliance on an energy transport route effectively controlled by the US, Financial Times reported. The 793km pipeline will be pumping gas by May 30 and will have a capacity of 12 billion cubic meters a year, according to information published online by CNPC on Monday. A parallel crude oil pipeline currently under construction will transport oil from north Africa and the Middle East across Myanmar into China by next year, according to the reports. Both pipelines will provide China with an alternative energy supply route should conflict ever cause a restriction of access to the Strait of Malacca, currently the route for 80% of the country’s crude oil imports and effectively under US control.