The new pipeline would run from Unecha in western Russia to the port of Primorsk on the Gulf of Finland with the annual capacity of 50 million metric tons of oil.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Russia to Send Oil Bypassing Belarus
Russia’s government has ordered to build a second branch of the Baltic Pipeline System to reroute oil exports away from Belarus. Those in the industry are skeptical of official assurances that the project does not mean that Russia is going to give up the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov signed a decree on May 18, instructing the Industry Ministry and Transneft to make detailed plans for the Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2).
The pipeline would run from Unecha at the border with Belarus to the port of Primorsk on the Gulf of Finland with the annual capacity of 50 million metric tons of oil. Transneft earlier said the capacity could be further extended to 75 million tons. The projects value is estimated at more than $2 billion. The construction is expected to take some eighteen months.
Plans to build an oil pipeline bypassing Belarus appeared earlier this year when Moscow and Minsk clashed over Russian energy supplies. The Druzhba pipeline from Russia to Central Europe came to a standstill over export dues conflict. The oil supply was resumed, but Russian authorities continued drafting a project of a link bypassing Belarus. Meanwhile, Russian authorities have announced that a part of the Druzhba which takes gas to Lithuania is in an emergency state and needs repair.
The Industry Ministry assured Kommersant on Monday that the Druzhba pipeline would still be used despite the plans to divert the supply elsewhere. Analysts, however, doubt that Russia will continue pumping oil through Druzhba after the new Baltic link is pressed into operation. “Expenses to construct a pipeline which repeats the route of another pipeline are economically unsound,” said Konstantin Batunin, an analyst from Alfa Bank. “Russia is just trying to shake off its dependence on transit countries.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 22, 2007
|
|
|
