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Overview

Chinese Government donates 437,500 tons of crude oil in 2001 (Linked with Record ID#63152, #63155)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$193,499,999
Commitment Year•2001Country of Activity•Democratic People's Republic of KoreaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•Democratic People's Republic of KoreaSector•Industry, Mining, ConstructionFlow Type•Grant

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2001

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

Government Agencies

  • China Ministry of Commerce

Receiving agencies

Government Agencies

  • Government of North Korea

Loan desecription

Chinese Government donates 437,500 tons of crude oil in 2001 (Linked with Record ID#63152, #63155)

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In 2000, the Chinese Government donated approximately 437,500 tons of crude oil to the North Korean Government. According to the South Korean Government, the Chinese Government donated 1.75 million tons of crude oil to the North Korean Government from 1999 to 2002. For the time being, AidData has estimated the amount of crude oil donated in 2000 based on an assumption of equal donations in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 (1750000/4 = 437,500). However, the amount of crude oil that was donated each year reportedly increased over the four-year period. 437,500 tons of oil is equivalent to 3,206,875 barrels of oil. Therefore, to estimate the monetary value of the crude oil donation in 2001 ($83,314,612.50), AidData has taken the average price ($25.98) of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (NYMEX) crude oil in 2001 and multiplied it by 3,206,875 barrels of oil. Record ID#63152 captures the crude oil donation in 2000, and Record ID#63155 captures the crude oil donation in 2002.

Staff comments

1. This crude oil donation project was supported via recurring grants from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) between 2000 and 2017. 2. Since 1991, China has been North Korea's largest crude oil provider, making up 80% of its supply. Crude oil is provided to North Korea through a pipeline (known as the Dandong-Sinuiju Pipeline or Friendship Oil Pipeline) from the Daqing Oil Field, 800 kilometers north of the China-North Korea border. The pipeline, which was completed in December 1975, runs for more than 30 km from storage facilities in the Chinese border city of Dandong to an oil depot in Sinuiju in North Korea. It supplies approximately 520,000 tons (3.64 million barrels) of heavy crude oil each year, according to its operator, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Once across the border, the crude oil is processed at North Korea's sole working refinery, the Ponghwa Chemical Factory, a facility built with Chinese assistance during the 1970s. The refinery turns the oil into refined products for North Korea's government, military, transport, agricultural and fishing sectors.