MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Transneft CEO Nikolay Tokarev told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Tuesday that the pipeline company is ready and has the ability to expand its capacities to pump Russian oil eastward, if needed.

"This is what the eastbound route looks like right now. It is loaded, but there are possibilities and prospects for expansion. And if necessary and expedient, it can all be done, even more so since we have such experience," he stressed.

Earlier, Tokarev said that the Far Eastern port of Kozmino was fully loaded, with the volume of transfer having been ramped up by 12 mln tons from the design capacity of 30 mln tons to 42 mln tons.

"Today, it turns out to be more complicated simply to construct the ESPO-1 since more oil pumping stations will be required. Moreover, supply pipelines from the central part of Russia should be beefed up because the increase in volumes to Kozmino suggests that oil needs to be taken from somewhere since there is simply no oil there. This is a complicated issue, but it all can be done if necessary. What’s more, we have the experience and the corridors are there, so are the energy supplies, transport logistics, and field staff. This makes the task much easier. If it is expedient, and not difficult to do," the CEO noted.

Moreover, it will become possible to supply another 3-7 mln tons of oil by rail to China within a year depending on the situation at the Meget station in the Irkutsk Region, he added.

Large volumes of Russian oil have already been diverted to China and the Asian-Pacific market overall, Tokayev noted. "The market is promising. Large volumes of Russian oil have been reoriented to the Asian-Pacific [market], China, India, to that region as well by now," he said.