Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains information about a planned or proposed pipeline.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the construction and/or completion of the pipeline approaches, and more information becomes available.

The Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO pipeline, Russian: Восточный нефтепровод) is a 4,700 kilometres (2,900 mi) long pipeline system to export Russian crude oil to the Asia-Pacific markets (Japan, China, Korea). The pipeline is being laid by the route of Taishet-Kazachinskoe-Skovorodino-Perevoznaya–Kozmino. From Skovorodino the branch pipeline would extend to Daqing, China.^[1]

Because of protests of environmental organizations, the pipeline route was moved 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Lake Baikal. The pipeline will be operated by Russian pipeline company Transneft.

1 Technical features
2 Construction
3 Recourse base
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Technical features

The capacity of the first stage of 1,220 millimetres (48 in) diameter pipeline will be 80 millions tons of crude oil per year. The pipeline will consist 32 pumping stations, including 13 with tank farms with total capacity of 2.67 million cubic meter. The capacity of the link to China will be 30 millions tons of crude oil per year.^[2]

For feeding pumping stations with electricity, a 35 MW power station will be build near the town of Olyokminsk in the Sakha Republic. It will be fired by the crude oil from the ESPO pipeline. The power station will be designed for independent operation in demanding arctic temperature conditions.^[3]

The terminal at Kozmino will have a tank farm with capacity of 350,000 cubic meters. The loading capacity of the terminal will be 300,000 barrels per day.^[4]

[edit] Construction

The construction of 2,757 km (1,713 mi) long first stage of the pipeline started in April 2006. This first section will run from Taishet in Irkutsk Oblast to Skovorodino in Amur Oblast. From Skorovodino, an extension will be built to China. The first stage consists also construction of an export terminal in Primorsky Krai. The pipeline is being built by Systema SpecStroy, Krasnodarstroytransgaz, Vostok Stroy, Promstroy, Amerco Int. and IP Set Spb.^[5] Five 16V32 crude oil-fired engines for the pipeline-related power station will be delivered in summer 2008 by Wärtsilä.^[3]

On 22 November 2007, Transneft announced the first phase pipeline was 41% complete instead of a projected 60%, while pumping stations were 24% ready instead of 56%.^[6] The first stage of the pipeline with the total cost of US$12.27 billion and the export terminal with cost of US$1.74 billion are planned to be completed in the third quarter of 2009.^[7]

Construction of the 2,100 km (1,300 mi) long second stage from Skovorodino to the Pacific Ocean would start after launch of the first stage. It could be commissioned between 2015-2017.^[8]^[9]

[edit] Recourse base

The pipeline will be supplied from the oil fields of Tomsk Oblast and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia along the existing Omsk-Irkutsk pipeline that will join the new project in Taishet, as well as oil provinces of Eastern Siberia. At the initial stage 22 million tons of oil will be supplied by Rosneft and 8 million tons by Surgutneftegaz.