Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 9 -- Russia's environmental oversight agency Rostekhnadzor said a projected oil terminal at Kozmino, on Russia's Pacific Coast, will present no threat to its surroundings when constructed.
Head of Rostekhnadzor Konstantin Pulikovsky said plans were ecologically safe for the oil port at Kozmino, selected as the export terminus of the planned 4,300-km East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.
Kozmino will be capable of receiving deepwater tankers and handle crude exports of as much as 80 million tonnes/year—the pipeline's largest projected throughput.
The pipeline route has already been altered following criticism by Russian President Vladimir Putin and environmental activists. State pipeline monopoly OAO Transneft last year agreed to reroute the pipeline away from Lake Baikal (OGJ Online, May 25, 2006).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
