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Transneft, CNPC to Extend ESPO Pipeline to China
Russia’s pipeline monopoly and Chinese CNPC have inked a protocol to extend a branch of East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO) to China, ITAR-TASS reported with reference to Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Andrey Dementiev.
According to Dementiev, Transneft elaborated the feasibility study, all sanctions of authorities were duly collected and the document was passed to China, which undertook to fund the branch construction. According to previous reports, the budget could exceed $400 million.
Moreover, China expressed the will to take part in building a section of ESPO, Dementiev said, specifying that 2,000 Chinese will be employed to construct the pipeline.
The program of loading ESPO by 2025 that was elaborated by the RF Natural Resources Ministry provides for producing roughly 40 million tons by 2015 and roughly 80 million tons by 2025, Dementiev reminded, acknowledging, however, that the exploration rates are notably below the target in some regions of Siberia.
The target is to fill ESPO with 24 million tons of crude by 2009, Deputy Natural Resources Minister Vladimir Lozbinev said. “To launch the first stage, roughly 6 million tons will be produced from East Siberia’s basic fields and adjacent fields, while West Siberia will supply roughly 24 million ... The resource potential of hydrocarbon “enables to ensure filling both the first and the second stages,” Lozbinev pointed out.
www.kommersant.com
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