Quake lake poses danger to PetroChina pipeline

06 June 2008 11:56  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--PetroChina’s oil pipeline, which transports 6m tonnes/year of fuel, is in danger of being damaged as a nearby quake lake threatens to breach its barriers, its parent company China National Petroluem Corp said in a statement released Friday.

PetroChina has already ramped up efforts to pre-empt any damage, with staff being deployed to work on the pipeline spanning Fu Jiang province.

The 1,252km-long Lanzhou-Chedu-Chongqing pipeline currently provides 70% of Sichuan’s oil product supplies. Any potential disruption lasting more than three days would severely impact supplies in Yunnan and Guizhou, the firm added.

The Tang Jia Shan quake lake in Mianyang city, Sichuan, which was formed after the earthquake on 12 May, contains an estimated 200 cubic metres of water and is situated just 60km from the pipeline.

The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources reported that the water levels at Tang Jia Shan lake was a mere 25 metres away from the lowest part of the barrier and was at risk of breaching its banks.

Emergency teams had been hoping to drain the lake on Thursday, but fresh landslides and higher than expected rainfall, had added to the risk of the lake breaching its banks and flooding downstream areas, the ministry added on its website.

In May 2008, a two-tonne stockpile of disinfectant chlorine stored under a tent ignited after coming into contact with rainwater, injuring over 60 people in Sichuan.

By: Serene Cheong
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Chemical Business podcast November 2, 2009)

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