ESPO Pipeline, Siberia, Russia

The ESPO (Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean) oil pipeline will be a 4,700km (2,900 miles) pipeline system. Once constructed, it will export crude oil from Russia to the Asian Pacific markets of Japan, China and Korea.

The pipeline is being constructed by the Russian company Transneft (which will also be the operator) in two phases and will run from Taishet to Kozmino, via Kazachinskoe, Skovorodino and Perevoznaya. As part of the original plan there would also be a branch from Skovorodino to Daqing in China but this is not yet certain.

OIL SUPPLIES

Russia is keen to develop more outlets for its massive reserves of crude oil and the ESPO pipeline is a gateway to the east for them. The pipeline will transport crude oil from fields at Tomsk Oblast and also the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia.

In addition the existing Omsk-Irkutsk pipeline will join the pipeline at Taishet and there will also be supplies from the oil provinces of Eastern Siberia. At the start of operations 22 million tons of oil will be supplied by Rosneft and also eight million tons by Surgutneftegaz.

ESPO FIRST PHASE

The first phase of the pipeline will consist of a 2,757km (1,713 mile) section from Taishet in Irkutsk Oblast to Skovorodino in Amur Oblast (along with the branch to China). This construction work began in April 2006 and is being undertaken by a number of Russian-based companies, including Systema SpecStroy, Krasnodarstroytransgaz, Vostok Stroy, Promstroy, Amerco Int and IP Set Spb.

The first phase will consist of 48in (1,220mm) diameter pipeline and will have a capacity of 80 million tons of crude oil a year. There will be 32 pumping stations along the route including 13 with tank farm storage (total capacity of 2.67 million cubic metres). The branch to China is expected to have a capacity of 30 million tons a year.

This first phase also includes the construction of an export terminal in Primorsky Krai and also a 35MW power station in Olyokminsk, which will use crude oil as a fuel and is necessary to power the pumping stations. The power station will use five crude oil-fired engines that are due to be delivered in the summer of 2008 by Wärtsilä.

In November 2007 the first phase was reported by Transneft as being around 40% completed and running behind schedule. The expected completion date has now been readjusted to the third quarter of 2009. The investment for this first phase has been estimated at around $14bn (Russian estimates of the project cost come to around 200 billion roubles).

SECOND PHASE ESPO II

The second phase of the pipeline will involve the construction of a 1,963km (1,210 miles) section from Skovorodino to the Pacific Ocean terminal at Kozmino. A southern route was chosen because of the proximity of the Trans-Siberian railway. The VNIIST Institute is designing the terminal, which will serve tankers with deadweight from 80,000t to 150,000t and will eventually have three loading booms.

Russian estimates of the finance required for ESPO II come to 320 to 330 billion roubles. Feasibility studies will be conducted from 2008–2009 along with environmental assessments, and contracts will be put out to tender in the first half of 2009 with construction expected to begin in the second half of the same year. This section of the pipeline could also include a provision for branch lines to the oil refineries in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The route of the phase two pipeline will run 882km through the Amur region, 324km through the Jewish autonomous region, 247km through Khabarovsk territory and 570km through Primorye. Capacity of the phase two section has been estimated at 30 million tons of crude oil a year (rising to 50 million tons a year) and completion could be 2013–2014.

ESPO II DESIGN

The declaration of intentions developer for ESPO II was the Giprotruboprovod design institution (a subsidiary of OAO AK Transneft) and this is based upon the energy strategy of the Russian Federation up to 2020. The pipeline will have a single-lane design.

The section from Skovorodino pump station to the Khabarovsk pump station (1,182km) will be in 1,067mm diameter pipe. However, the section from Khabarovsk to the Kozmino special tanker port (781km) will be in 1,020mm diameter pipe. The pipeline in areas of seismic activity will have three layer coating of extruded polyethylene to prevent spillage.