Bangkok: A pipeline connecting western Myanmar to China is ready to carry gas from July, but construction delays on the Chinese side means it wont be fully operational until around October, Myanmar's energy minister said.

The 870 km pipeline from the Indian Ocean to the Chinese border will deliver oil and gas to China without the need for tankers to carry on through the Malacca Straits.

"The pipeline construction inside Myanmar is 100 percent finished. But the China portion that is over 1,600 km (990 miles) long, they are not able to finish in time," Than Htay said in an interview with Reuters in the capital, Naypyitaw, estimating a delay of two or three months.