The Wall Street Journal, 2 Nov 2009
China and its neighbors are moving ahead on a multibillion-dollar oil-and-gas pipeline project that promises to greatly enhance the financial strength of Myanmar's military regime and boost its political clout in Asia.
When completed, the pipeline will help unlock large untapped deposits of natural gas off Myanmar's coast and carry it hundreds of miles to southern China, expanding Myanmar's role as one of Asia's important energy exporters and enhancing its influence over other countries that rely on its supplies.
The project also is expected to include a port that can take deliveries of oil from the Middle East and Africa before transferring them to China. That will give China a new route for oil that bypasses the congested Strait of Malacca near Singapore, which handles a large portion of China's imported crude today.
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