Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 3 -- Russia's East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline has received a boost from officials in the city of Nakhodka, who have leased land plots totaling 144 hectares for construction of an oil export terminal at Kozmino.
The Kozmino facility, which is to become the terminal point in the ESPO pipeline, will include a railcar loading rack and associated facilities, an oil depot, an oil tank, and coastal and marine facilities.
Russian pipeline monopoly OAO Transneft said construction of the Kozmino oil terminal is due to begin this month and will be completed by yearend 2009.
Initially, oil will be delivered by pipeline from East Siberia to Skovorodino, and then by rail to Kozmino where it will be loaded onto tankers bound for export markets. Eventually, the pipeline will be extended from Skovorodino to Kozmino.
The port's initial capacity will be 15 million tonnes/year and will rise to 50 million tonnes/year on completion of the pipeline extension from Skovorodino.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Tariffs Service (FTS) hopes the oil transportation tariff through the ESPO line will earn $38/tonne/100 km.
But that rate is tied to the current goods traffic scheme, which could rise, according to FTS head Sergei Novikov. "The project's specific economy is considerably connected with the goods traffic scheme," Novikov said. "If it changes the tariff may change too."
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].