China to help finance Canadian oil pipeline

China will help finance the development of a proposed US$5.51 billion oil pipeline to Canada’s west coast, opening the Asian market to Canadian crude, the Wall Street Journal reported. State-owned Sinopec (SNP.NYSE, 600028.SH, 0386.HK) is among a consortium of Canadian oil producers and Asian refiners investing US$100 million in Enbridge’s (ENB.NYSE, ENB.TSX) Northern Gateway pipeline. The project would pipe an average of 525,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada’s oil sands region to a part in British Columbia, where it would then be shipped to Asian markets. Though regulators aren’t expected to rule on whether the project will be given the green light until next year, construction would be completed in 2016. Canadian crude is now chiefly consumed by the US.