As technicians of Sinopec finished their last welding work in Alataw Pass Monday, the oil pipeline linking China and Kazakhstan joined ends after 18 months unremitting efforts.

This marked a perfect accomplishment of the first period of the 1000-km oil pipeline project. The joining serves as a firm foundation for the eventual overall completion of this project soon.

The first transnational oil project between China and Kazakhstan is jointly built by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and its Kazakh counterpart.

In the first period of the project, US$700 million was invested to build a 813-millimeter pipeline with an oil transfusion capacity of 20 million tons yearly.

More than 200 officials and delegates from the CNPC, the Kazakhstan National Petroleum and Natural Gas Company, the Sino-Kazakh Oil Pipeline Co. Ltd and the local government attended a joining ceremony.

Kairgeldy Kabyldin, vice president of Kazakhstan National Petroleum and Natural Gas Company, said the oil pipeline butt joint is a good example of close cooperation between the two nations.

The construction of the transnational oil pipeline signifies that the energy cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has stepped into a new phase, said Yin Juntai, deputy general manager of China Petroleum Exploration and Development Company.

He said currently the CNPC has 53 projects in 21 countries, including three exploration projects, four oilfields and two pipeline projects in Kazakhstan. Apart from that, in August, the CNPC successfully purchased the PetroKazakhstan.

The oil pipeline project will also greatly promote the economic growth of Xinjiang, said Ma Ao, an official with the autonomous region's Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bortala.

The Altaw Pass, where the oil pipeline joins, will become a hub of railway, road and pipeline transportation in the near future and this will also mean a great many commercial opportunities, said the official.

The Chinese and Kazakh governments signed an agreement in June, 2003, on studying the feasibility of the joint investment in a transnational oil pipeline. In May, 2004, a framework agreement was signed on overall cooperation in the fields of oil and gas.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2005)