Re-routing Russia's crude

摘要

While recent disputes between Ukraine and Russia have focused on gas, Russia is also reliant on both Ukraine and Belarus for the transit of crude. This is a reliance which it intends to end, in part by sending more tankers through the Baltic Sea. Russia's national oil pipeline operator Transneft in June officially launched construction of the new Baltic Pipeline System-2, which will take Russian crude to the Baltic Sea coast without crossing Ukraine or Belarus. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, "the project is within Russia's policy to diversify Russian export routes and strengthen our energy security."