BEIJING, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A new 625-mile-long China-Russia pipeline began full operation during the weekend, shipping oil from Russia's Far East to energy-hungry China, a spokesman said.
Current plans call for the pipeline to transport 15 million tonnes, or about 106 million barrels, of Russian crude annually to northeastern China in the next 20 years under an agreement between the two countries, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
As of Sunday, or within 24 hours of the start of the operation, the pipeline had carried about 40,000 tonnes, or more than 300,000 barrels, of oil, said a spokesman for Pipeline Branch of Petro China Co., the operator of the Chinese section of the pipeline.
The pipeline stretches from the Russian town of Skovorodino in the far-eastern Amur region to China's Daqing City. About 520 miles of the pipeline lies in China, the report said.
