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East Siberia–Pacific Ocean oil pipeline system

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The East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline system, now under construction, will transport Russian crude oil to markets on the Pacific coast of Asia. The project will be carried out according to Government Resolution No 1737-r, dated December 31, 2004. Order No. 91 of the Energy Ministry, dated April 25, 2005, defines the various stages of the project.

The first stage (ESPO-1), which will have the throughput capacity of 30 million metric tons of oil annually, entails the construction of 2,694 km of pipeline from Taishet in the Irkutsk Region to Skovorodino in the Amur Region, seven pumping stations, and the Kozmino seaport, an oil terminal near the town of Nakhodka in the Primorye Territory, which will have an annual capacity of 15 million tons. The project also involves communications, electricity supply lines, management, automated and remote control systems, and other requisite infrastructure. Oil will be delivered from Skovorodino to Kozmino by rail.

In accordance with the integrated operational schedule approved by the Energy Ministry, the first stage of the project is to be completed in December of 2009.

The construction of the pipeline began in April of 2006, and has now entered the final stage and involves more than 14,500 people and 4,800 vehicles.

In October of 2008, a 1,094 km segment of the pipeline from the Talakanskoye field to Taishet was commissioned and began operation in the reverse mode to ensure the shipping of oil from the Talakanskoye and Verkhnechonskoye fields. The segment passes through the Irkutsk Region and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

To date, the pipes have been welded, laid and covered with earth, and oil has been supplied to some 1,600 km of the pipeline. The work to fill the pipeline with oil continues, and at the same time the completed parts of the pipeline are being inspected for potential problems.

The construction of oil pumping stations is nearing completion. Three of the seven pumping stations have been commissioned: the main pumping station No.1 in Taishet, pumping station No. 4 at Rechushka and pumping station number 17 at Aldan. The remaining four stations - No. 8 at Kirensk, No. 10 at Talakan, No. 14 at Olekminsk, and No. 21 at Skovorodino - are to be commissioned by November 2009.

Construction is in full swing at the destination point of the pipeline, the Kozmino oil seaport, where oil will be delivered by rail and then stored and loaded into tankers for shipping to consumers.

Construction is proceeding despite adverse weather and climate, with over 25% of the pipeline running over rock formations, over 20% over permafrost, and 10% over marches or flood plains. The pipeline crosses 530 bodies of water, including the Ust-Ilim water reservoir, as well as the Angara, Lena, Aldan, Chulman rivers, among others. Construction is taking place outside of populated areas, in places without roads or electricity lines.

The second stage of the project (ESPO-2) provides for extension of the pipeline from Skovorodino to Kozmino and for developing the Kozmino seaport. The 2,100 km pipeline will pass through the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories. A feasibility study for the second stage has been completed and has passed state examination; work is currently underway on a detailed plan of implementation of the project. Construction will begin in the second half of 2010.

Initially, oil will be shipped from the Kozmino seaport to Japan, and subsequently also to South Korea. Russia, China and Japan have agreed on a fourth quarter of 2009 or second quarter of 2010 deadline for the commissioning of the pipeline.

According to Chinese and Korean specialists, the purchase of Russia's East Siberian and Far Eastern oil will be at least 15% cheaper for Asia-Pacific countries than oil delivered from Southeast Asia. These Russian areas are located much closer to Asian markets on the Pacific than the oil-producing areas in Southeast Asia, and transporting oil by pipeline is at least 25% cheaper than transportation by tankers from Southeast Asia.

The new pipeline is being built with the latest advances in the design, construction and exploitation of oil pipelines, and has high safety standards and a minimal environmental impact.

The length of the pipeline, its location in difficult terrain lacking infrastructure and passing through rocks, sand, marshes, taiga, permafrost, seismic areas, a large number of water bodies, coupled with low winter temperatures, all require cutting-edge technological solutions.

The technical and environmental protection measures included in the project will minimise its environmental impact. They include:

- comprehensive purification of household wastes to preclude the pollution of water bodies;

effective methods of utilising waste, in order to minimise possible pollution of soil and subsoil water;

- cutting-edge methods of soil reclamation, thus ensuring the preservation and restoration of fertile soil layers;

- technical monitoring of potential changes in the pipeline and adjacent areas;

- use of enhanced strength and reliability pipes with special chemical, metal structure, impact strength and cracking resistance properties and special requirements for welding seams;

- placement of special valves at the small rivers that the pipeline will cross, and reducing the distance between shutdown valves to less than the normal distance;

- widespread use of automated and remote control systems, as well as information and communication equipment;

- a well-designed, continuous programme for professional training of personnel.

The resource base of the ESPO pipeline is guaranteed, with crude to be supplied from the deposits of East and West Siberia.

The ESPO system will be connected to Transneft's main pipelines, thereby forming a single network to ensure the prompt distribution of oil across Russia in the western and eastern directions.

The project to build the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline is a powerful method for developing Siberia and the Far East, because it will make use of these areas' resource and production potential. In addition to direct benefits such as taxes and new jobs, the construction of the pipeline will stimulate the search for new oil fields and the development of previously discovered ones, which should boost the development of the fuel and energy sectors of the Russian economy, as well as other economic sectors.