Russia to study expansion of Baltic oil line

July 13, 1998
Russian oil transportation company AK Transneft has let contract to Gulf Interstate Engineering Co., Houston, to perform a feasibility study on a proposed expansion of its pipeline system from Western Siberia's Timan-Pechora oil fields to the Baltic region. If undertaken, the pipeline expansion is expected to cost $2-3 billion. The objectives of the proposed expansion are to provide an export route for as much as 600,000 b/d of Russian crude, produced by both domestic and foreign companies

Russian oil transportation company AK Transneft has let contract to Gulf Interstate Engineering Co., Houston, to perform a feasibility study on a proposed expansion of its pipeline system from Western Siberia's Timan-Pechora oil fields to the Baltic region.

If undertaken, the pipeline expansion is expected to cost $2-3 billion.

The objectives of the proposed expansion are to provide an export route for as much as 600,000 b/d of Russian crude, produced by both domestic and foreign companies in the Timan-Pechora area, and to create a new Russian export terminal at Primorsk on the Baltic Sea.

The pipeline would provide an alternative route for exporting Russian crude to European markets without having to use Latvia's Ventspils port.

The Transneft proposal competes with a similar proposal by Finnish state firm Neste Oy to construct an oil pipeline from the Timan-Pechora fields to its refinery at Porvoo, Finland.

For the feasibility study, Gulf Interstate will review contributions made by other consultants and provide project management and engineering services. The study will be supported by the World Bank.

To accommodate additional oil production from Timan-Pechora, an existing 1,900-km Transneft pipeline would have to be expanded by 775 km to deliver oil to Primorsk, and possibly on to Porvoo, Finland, if economically justified. The system would initially carry 140,000 b/d of oil, with a possible later expansion to 600,000 b/d (OGJ, Feb. 9, 1998, p. 37).

Included in the project would be expansion of existing pump stations, installation of four new pump stations, and building marine terminals at Primorsk and Porvoo. The terminals would include tanker-loading facilities to export Russian crude to world markets.

The feasibility study is slated for completion by October.

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