Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 -- Russian officials continue to present differing views concerning construction of the country's East Siberia to Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline project (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2008).
First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the country's ministry of industry and energy for taking too long for its appraisal of the proposed Bay of Kazmino oil export terminal for the pipeline.
"The minister has 3 days to tell me what has happened, why it's taking so long, how this will affect the construction," Medvedev told Anatoly Yanovsky, a deputy industry and energy minister, at a meeting in Khabarovsk.
"This project is crucial for the Far East, and all this talk about why and where, what's happening to the paperwork, is just pathetic," Medvedev said.
Neither Yanovsky nor Nikolai Tokarev, the head of state pipeline monopoly Transneft, were able to explain how long the appraisal had taken.
"How long is it going to take? Can you tell me in plain Russian? An appraisal usually takes 3 months," Medvedev said.
His remarks coincided with a statement by Tokarev that it will not be possible to use the first section of the ESPO oil pipeline until 2009.
Tokarev told a conference on Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal development that the first section of the line is only 46% complete, instead of 67% as had been anticipated.
He said construction is slow because local conditions are extreme, the work started late, and the pipeline length has been increased considerably.
Tokarev expects the line between the Irkutsk region and the Tolokan deposit in Yakutia to be commissioned by October, explaining that the line that goes through the Irkutsk region is 87% complete, although the line in Yakutia is 18% complete.
Therefore, he said, "Surgutneftegaz and TNK BP can start pumping oil to the west through the Taishet-Tolokan line by [yearend]."
Meanwhile, on Feb. 6, Industry and Energy Minister Victor Khristenko gave a different account, saying Russia could finish ESPO's second segment in 2012 when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization plans a summit in Vladivostok.
"We may be able to meet the APEC forum with the ESPO fully completed," he said, adding that the first phase of the line will be completed "before the end of 2008."
"The pipe will definitely reach Skovorodino, and there will definitely be a terminal in Kazmino," he said, explaining that it would be possible by then to carry required amounts of oil from Skovorodino to Kazmino by rail.
Progress that Rosneft and Surgutneftegas have made in eastern Siberia "warrants optimism," the minister said. "There is no doubt that the first section of the pipe will be filled."
"The pace of work that has been picked means that we will quite soon—before the first phase is over—get to the point where we can assess the potential of the second phase. In that sense, the figure 2012 does not appear to be fantastic," Khristenko said.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
