CNPC seeks loans to fund Central Asia-China gas pipeline construction

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The China National Petroleum Corp.(CNPC), the country's largest oil and gas producer, said it was seeking a 2.5 billion U.S. dollar loan from the China Development Bank for the Central Asia-China natural gas pipeline project. The money would fund construction of the Uzbekistan section of the pipeline, expected to finish in 2009, a CNPC source told Caijing Magazine on Wednesday. According to the construction plan, the pipeline would start from Gedaim on the border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and extend 1,818 km. About 525 km would run through Uzbekistan and 1,293 km in Kazakhstan to reach Khorgos in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It would be connected with the country's planned second West-to-East natural gas pipeline. CNPC agreed to import 30 billion cubic meters of... [read full story]