According to reports, Chinese leaders discussed the project with Myanmar’s Prime Minister Khin Nyunt when he visited Beijing recently. China estimates that by 2020, its annual demand for crude oil will reach 440 million tons, representing a shortfall of about 250 million tons over domestic production, to be met by imports. Around 80% of China’s oil imports pass through the Malacca Strait, and the fact that China does not have a navy to protect the route is reported to be making Beijing is distinctly uneasy about the risk of blockage should fighting with the United States break out over Taiwan. This issue was first raised by Chinese President Hu Jintao at a meeting in November 2003, at which he asked officials to come up with possible solutions. According to a source, the officials proposed four: the first three involve pipelines from the Myanmar to the SW province of Yunnan, from Pakistan to NW Xinjiang province, or from Bangladesh to Tibet. The fourth solution entailed helping Thailand construct the Kra Canal. The source said the Bangladesh option was ruled out almost immediately because it meant passing through Indian territory. The Pakistani option is being considered in tandem with a railway line that China intends to build, linking Kashi (Kashgar) in southern Xinjiang with the Pakistani port of Karachi in the Indian Ocean, although this route poses considerable technical difficulties. The Myanmar option is, therefore, more appealing, both politically and technically. According to Dr Li Cheng Yang, director of Yunnan University’s Institute of South-East Asia, the proposed pipeline will run from the Indian Ocean port of Sittwe (Akyab) to Kunming, Yunnan’s capital, a distance of about 1,250km. Compared with the current oil route via the Malacca Strait, this represents a saving of about 2,000km; the cost of construction of the pipeline is estimated at about US$2 billion. This story is courtesy of Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections  www.gas-oil-power.com