Transneft plans to launch ESPO-2 in latter part of December
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Russian oil pipeline company OJSC Transneft plans to launch the second line of the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO-2) Pipeline system in the second half of next month, a company statement says.
ESPO-1 was put into service in December of 2009. According to Transneft, the route using ESPO with shipment through the port of Kozmino is greatly in demand by oil companies, as in this direction the effective weighted tariff is minimal, and the most cost-effective exports are achieved.
The special feature of the ESPO route is that in this export direction only low-sulphur oil (ESPO brand) is accepted into the system, in contrast to the sulphurous Urals brand oil accepted for export in a Western direction through the ports of Ust-Luga, Primorsk, and Novorossiysk, Transneft said.
The degree to which ESPO is loaded depends directly on oil company readiness to put into the system oil of the proper quality, Transneft said. The main advantage producers receive is the opportunity to use a single (and much less expensive) type of transport - pipeline transport, independent of possible fluctuations of the cost of railway transport along the Skovorodino-Kozmino section, the statement says. "Furthermore, oil companies can use the system even for oil that they could not technologically put up for export previously - from Tomsk Region deposits, for example," the statement says.
The ESPO pipeline system is being built to move oil to market in the Asia-Pacific Region. The first line of the system was put into operation at the end of December 2009. In the first phase was built a pipeline section running from Taishet (Irkutsk Region) to Skovorodino and the oil terminal at Kozmino on the Pacific coast. Oil is transported by rail from Skovorodino to the port. In the second phase, there will be built a pipeline section from Skovorodino to the coast and the terminal's handling capacity will be increased. ESPO-2 was slated to be commissioned in mid-November. Total oil shipped via Kozmino might increase from 15 million to 30 million tonnes. Transneft plans to pump 20-21 million tonnes of oil through ESPO in 2013.
| Oil pipeline | ESPO (1 & 2) | BPS-1 | BPS-2 |
| Tariff per section, rubles per tonne | 2081 | 553,5 | 543,92 |
| Section length, km | 4740 | 805 | 1000 |
| Effective (weighted) tariff, rubles per 100 tonne-km | 43,9 | 68,8 | 54,39 |
| Oil intake | Purpe | |||
| Port of shipment | Kozmino | Ust-Luga | Novorossiysk | Primorsk |
| Oil type | ESPO | Urals | Urals | Urals |
| Transport cost, rubles/tonne | 2081 | 1952 | 1824 | 1719 |
| Amount of price allowance | - | 24,0*$/tonne | 24,0*$/tonne | 24,0*$/tonne |
| - | 760 rubles/tonne | 760 rubles/tonne | 760 rubles/tonne | |
| Cost of transport, considering price allowance, rubles/tonne | 2081 | 2712 | 2584 | 2479 |
| Price loss compared with delivery to Kozmino, rubles/tonne | Base | 631 | 503 | 398 |
* Data as of 11/20/12 (avg. amount at start of year - 42$/tonne).
