VLADIVOSTOK, August 8 (Itar-Tass) —— A linear section of the East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline will be built by early September, a spokesman for Russia’s Transneft oil major said on Monday.
“We only have to lay 30 kilometers of the pipeline, it is planned to weld the last pipe joint in the period from September 5 to 10,” Igor Demin said.
After the construction of the linear section is over, it will take up to one year to build other pipeline facilities. Oil pumping from East Siberian fields to the Far Eastern port of Kozmino will start in late 2012 or early 2013, he added.
The pipeline is designed to pump 80 million tons of hydrocarbons a year, and up to 30 million tons of oil a year will be exported via the port of Kozmino.
The port of Kozmino was commissioned in December 2009, and in 2010 it handled 15 million tons. In 2012, when a second transshipment complex is put into operation, the port’s capacity will reach 30 million tons.