http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=574383
Oil Export // Russia has choosen an Eastern draw Oil will flow both to China and Japan Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko signed on April 26 a decree On Determination of the Stages of the Construction of the Eastern Siberia â€" the Pacific Ocean Pipeline System. Mr. Khristenko has succeeded in satisfying two large consumers, each of which laid claims on the exclusive deliveries of the Russian oil. The oil will reach both China and Japan through the Eastern “pipe”. The decree Mr. Khristenko had signed before going on leave determined the construction schedule. The first branch of the oil-pipeline starting in Tayshet, Irkutsk region, and ending in Skovorodino, Amur region, near the Chinese border will be pumping 20 million tons per year as early as in the second half of the year 2008. Basing on these facts, one can conclude that the pipeline is designed primarily for oil supplies to China. However, the next article of the decree (Kommersant has one of the copies) says that once the oil-pipeline’s first branch to Skovorodino is launched, the first starting complex of the oil terminal in the Perevoznaya bay, Primorye region, of the same capacity (up to 30 million tons) will be placed in operation. It means that the oil (planned to be extracted from well-know oil-fields in the Western Siberia to fill up the first branch) will go where the Russian authorities would turn it to. Either from Skovorodino to China by the railroad (though this branch may be further laid on the territory of China), or to Japan â€" then it will have to be reloaded into the tanks in Skovorodino to load it later in the tankers in the Perevoznaya bay. Moreover, Russia may prefer a compromise scheme dividing the oil between the two Eastern neighbors in equal parts, or in any other proportion. At any rate, the Ministry of Industry and Energy controlling the Russian oil transportation alongside Transneft oil transportation company will get the freedom to move on the whole territory of Russia. Besides, a wide choice of routes and means of transportation (Russian Railways is unlikely to give up the old route to China it is using now to export oil and is planning to boost export) will do Russian oil companies good as their growth is now restrained by the carrying capacity of the oil “pipe”. Both the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development hope that the availability of the pipeline constructed before will encourage the influx of investment to explore new oil and gas provinces in the Eastern Siberia. The construction of the second branch from Skovorodino to Perevoznay looks doubtful without exploration of new fields - in this case there would be nothing to fill up the pipeline with, its capacity now being estimated at 50 million tons per year. We remind our readers that the Eastern Pipelines will cost the total of $16 billion. That is why Mr. Khristenko’s decree does not mention the schedule of the construction of the second branch at all. Anatoly Yanovsky, director of the Ministry’s Federal Energy Agency, reckons that “we have three years after which we will have to comprehend what has been done in the sphere of the exploration of the Eastern Siberia’s deposits”. “If we waste these years, it will mean that there won’t be additional investment for the construction of the next section of the pipeline for the Pacific Ocean coast ,” he said. In his opinion, the start and the stages of the implementation of the second phase should be determined in line with the program of the handing over the oil-fields in the Eastern Siberia and the Far East for the temporary use, confirmed by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko thinks that “the forming of the united pipeline system will be terminated” in Russia after the first branch is built. “By the year 2009, with the construction of the Eastern Siberia â€" the Pacific Ocean pipeline the task that was set back in the 80s will be fulfilled, i.e. the creation of a system embracing the whole of the country,” the minister emphasized. It is remarkable that Transneft is going to finance the construction using debt capital exclusively. The decree makes it a point that “the decision of the Government on the additional measures to support the first phase of the construction of the oil-pipeline is not required”. by Alela Kornysheva; Evgenia Sokolova, Irkutsk Russian Article as of Apr. 29, 2005 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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