NOVO-OGAREVO, December 25 (Itar-Tass) — The capacity of the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline can be increased to 45 million tons per year with the commissioning of its second stage, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who took part via video link in the pipeline putting into operation ceremony.
“With the completion of the second part, certainly, the capacity is expanding, up to 30 to 45 million tonnes per year,” the RF head of state said.
“Partners from countries such as Japan, China, the United States, the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia have been buying our products, and a new blend has appeared that is called ESPO in the international market,” said the RF president.
Putin called the launch of the second stage of the pipeline Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean and the opening of the Kuznetsovsky tunnel, the launch of which he also watched in the video conference regime, “great events for the entire Russian economy.”
“Both facilities significantly expand the infrastructural capacity of the eastern regions of Russia,” said the president. “They create new jobs, give people wages, boost technological development and provide new opportunities for the development of productive forces,” Putin pointed out.
The linear part of the ESPO-2 pipeline makes it possible to pump up to 80 million tonnes of oil annually. The Transneft Company, as the necessity arises, will be increasing the pipeline’s throughput. In 2013, the transportation of oil via the ESPO will be 36 million tonnes, with 21 million tonnes being exported via the port of Kozmino. The overall length is 4,188 kilometres: from the oilfields of Western Siberia to the ports of Primorsky Krai. The special Kozmino oil terminal near the city of Nakhodka has become the pipeline’s destination: since December 2009 oil has been delivered there by rail. Every year, up to 15 million tonnes of petroleum products were shipped via the port to countries of the Asia-Pacific Region.
Speaking about the launch of the Kuznetsovsky tunnel, the president called it “one more very important, serious step towards the strengthening of the transportation infrastructure of the Far East.” “It liquidates the bottleneck, which hindered the further development of cargo transportation via the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) to the seaports of Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan, and created a very good basis for the future development of the Far Eastern ports, for increasing exports, modernisation of the industrial base of Russia’s eastern regions,” he said.
“I want to say that everything was done at a high quality level and on schedule,” Putin stated. “This is a very good example of cooperation between businesses, between the state and local authorities,” he said.
The RF president recalled that the total funding amounted to about 28 billion roubles. “It’s an expensive, but very necessary project,” said the Russian head of state.