OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2013. The cross-border crude oil pipeline between China and Kazakhstan transported a record high monthly volume of 1.23 million mt of crude in October, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. said. The shipments increased 26.8% from September, according to a report on the company's website.

The pipeline started operating in July 2006 and has since sent a cumulative total of 61 million mt of crude to China, CNPC said.

The system starts in Atyrau, western Kazakhstan, and passes Atasu in central Kazakhstan before reaching Alashankou (Alataw Shankou) in Xinjiang, where it joins CNPC's domestic crude oil pipeline network.

Kazakh crude is mainly transmitted to the Dushanzhi refinery in western Xinjiang province owned by CNPC's subsidiary PetroChina.

The Kazakh-China pipeline has a capacity of 12 million mt/year. The Atasu-Alashankou section is expected to be expanded to 20 million mt/year by the end of this year, primarily through the installation of two new pumping stations, Kazakh oil and gas minister Uzakbay Karabalin said in September.

The capacity of the entire pipeline from Atyrau to Alashankou is expected to reach 20 million mt/year by 2015, the minister said.

China imported 8.73 million mt of crude oil from Kazakhstan over January-September, stable from the same period of 2012, according to Chinese customs data.