Myanmar-China oil pipeline nears start-up

YANGON: Nearly a decade in the making, a project to pump oil 770km across Myanmar to South-West China is set for imminent start-up, with a supertanker nearing the port of Kyauk Phyu, marking the opening of a new oil trading route.

Dogged by sensitive relations between Naypyitaw and Beijing, the US$1.5bil oil pipeline has been sitting empty for two years, but the two sides are now close to a deal, said Myanmar-based government and industry sources, despite some last-minute tensions.