Interfax-China reported that China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau a unit of China National Petroleum Corp has begun construction on the Myanmar section of the Sino-Myanmar Pipeline.

According to CNPC the company will build a 319 kilometer segment of the 793 kilometer long Myanmar section and running from the pipeline starting point in Kyaukphyu City to Mandalay City.

CPP won the right to build the section in May this year but has not yet disclosed a construction timetable.

China and Myanmar signed an agreement to build the 2,806 kilometer Sino-Myanmar cross-border natural gas pipeline in March 2009. Once operational, the pipeline is expected to supply some 12 billion cubic meters annually from Kyaukphyu to Kunming City in southern China's Yunnan Province.

The pipeline requires investment of USD 2.54 billion and is slated for completion by 2013.

(Sourced from Interfax-China)