A China-Russia oil pipeline has transported 100 million tonnes of crude oil since it began operations on January 1, 2011, the local customs in Harbin,capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said on Saturday.

The pipeline delivers oil from Russia's far-eastern region to China through its northeastern provinces.

The 1,000-km pipeline originates in the Russian town of Skovorodino in the far-eastern Amur region, enters China at Xing’an and terminates at Daqing city of Heilongjiang Province.

VCG Photo

The pipeline has reduced costs and raised the efficiency of China's oil imports from Russia, which had previously relied on rail.

According to the agreement between the two countries, the pipeline will transport 15 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia to China each year until 2030.

This pipeline is the first East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO) project, while the China leg of the second ESPO project that pumps Russian crude oil to China, with an annual capacity of 15 million tonnes, is expected to be completed by the end of next year.  

China consumed about 560 million tonnes of crude oil in 2016, 65 percent of which were imported, and both oil consumption and the proportion imported will continue to rise, according to China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil producer and supplier.

(Source: Xinhua, Reuters)