China National Petroleum Corp. said its 430-mile natural gas pipeline traveling from China to Myanmar is now operational. About 260 miles of the pipeline is in Myanmar, and the country will receive about 20 percent of the gas. The Myanmar-China gas pipeline is designed to transport 400 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year, UPI reported.

The line is also expected to reduce coal consumption in the countries by 30.72 million tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 52.83 million tons. The pipeline begins in Kyaukryu in Myanmar to the Yunnan Province in China.

Wu Hong, general manager of CNPC's construction division, said Oct. 20 the pipeline would provide energy security to southwest China and Myanmar, UPI reported. It will especially help Myanmar to ease energy shortages.

The pipeline was built as a joint venture between six companies in four countries, CNPC said. The project has helped the Kyaukryu region's economy.

More than 6,000 jobs were created during the peak construction period of the pipeline. Overall, the pipeline project created 2.9 million jobs across more than 220 companies.

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