Chinese Government donates 437,500 tons of crude oil in 2002 (Linked with Project ID#63152, #63154)

In 2002, 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 2002 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 2002 ($83,988,056.25), AidData has taken the average price ($26.19) of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (NYMEX) crude oil in 2002 and multiplied it by 3,206,875 barrels of oil. Project ID#63152 captures the crude oil donation in 2000, and Project ID#63154 captures the crude oil donation in 2001.

Additional details

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.

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Number of total sources

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