Russia Starts Work on Second Phase of Massive Espo Oil Pipeline

摘要

Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has started work on the second phase of its massive East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (Espo) pipeline, despite skepticism that there will be enough crude oil to fill the line. The first phase of the line, which opened late last year, runs nearly 2,700 kilometers from Taishet in the Irkutsk region of Eastern Siberia to Skovorodino, 68 km from the Chinese border, and has a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day. The 2,100 km second phase will link the existing line to a new export outlet, Kozmino, on the Pacific coast (IOD Dec.29,p1).