Work Starts On Controversial Siberian Pipeline
Moscow (AFP) Apr 25, 2006 Preparations have begun west of Lake Baikal on the construction of a pipeline to carry oil from Siberia to the Pacific, a senior local official said Monday. At the same time another official warned that increased Russian oil supplies to Asia after the construction of the pipeline would mean less oil for Europe. "As soon as we turn towards China, South Korea, Australia, Japan, this will take away part of the oil from our European colleagues," Semyon Vainshtok, head of the state-owned pipeline company Transneft, told the liberal Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily in an interview. "We have overfed Europe with oil" -- a situation that meant Russia could only sell to European markets at a reduced price, Vainshtok added. News of the start of preliminary work on the pipeline was given by the governor of the Irkutsk region Alexander Tishanin. The pipeline will pass within 800 metres (yards) of Lake Baikal and environmentalists have expressed alarm about the effects of any spill, the more so since the region is prone to earthquakes. Some 1,600 wagonloads of tubes have already been sent to the Baikal area, Tishanin said, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. They are being unloaded at Taishet in Siberia, at the head of the pipeline, east of Krasnoyarsk, north of Mongolia and west of Lake Baikal. "Further east, closer to Baikal we don't see such activity," said Tishanin who has frequently criticised the proximity of the pipeline to the lake, the largest body of fresh water in the world. Vainshtok said the construction of the 4,000-kilometre (2,485-mile) pipeline would begin later this month. The total cost of the project, intended to allow deliveries overland to China as well as shipment to other countries from Russia's Pacific coast, would be 6.5 billion dollars (5.3 billion euros), the newspaper said. Moscow is increasingly looking to Asian markets, such as energy-hungry China and Japan, for lucrative export deals. Last month, Russia signed a deal to build two gas pipelines to China with a combined capacity of up to 80 billion cubic meters (2.8 trillion cubic feet) per year. Russia was expecting a grant from China to build a spur off the main trunk line from Skovorodino to the Chinese border and was trying to secure a two billion dollar loan for the main project from a consortium of Western banks, Vainshtok said. The cost of pumping oil through the pipeline would be 38.8 dollars per ton, he added, comparing this to the 96 dollars currently charged by Russia's rail system for deliveries to China. Vainshtok also defended the project against charges that it presented a major risk for Lake Baikal. "We will guarantee unprecedented measures of protection against the possible leakage of oil into the lake," he said. A marine rescue team would be set up and the pipeline would be three times thicker than average and made from a special material that will make it both resistant and flexible, he added.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links - Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
World Bank Unveils Plan To Boost Clean Energy In Developing Countries Washington (AFP) Apr 24, 2006 The World Bank on Sunday unveiled a new project to promote the use of clean energy in developing countries, as weekend meetings of global finance leaders wound down here. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |