Transneft builds reserve string of ESPO-2 underwater Tunguska river crossing

MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - Transneft-Far East LLC has completed construction of the third underwater reserve string of the second stage of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO-2) - under the Tunguska River on the border of the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, the company's press service said in a statement.

The total length of the constructed string is 17 kilometers. The facility consists of a section of the linear part, which runs on land, and three culverts (underwater sections). The length of the main culvert crossing the river bed is 463 meters, two more (175 and 166 meters) are laid along the bottom of floodplain channels.

The total length of the constructed string is 17 km. It consists of a linear section, which runs on land, and three culverts (underwater sections). The length of the main culvert crossing the river bed is 463 meters, two more (175 and 166 meters) are laid along the bottom of floodplain channels.

"At the moment, three reserve lines of underwater crossings through major watercourses have been constructed on the ESPO-2 oil pipeline. In addition to the Tunguska, they have been constructed on the Amur River (Khabarovsk Territory) and the Bira River (Jewish Autonomous Region). Work is being finalized on the Khor River (Khabarovsk Territory)," the statement said.

The company plans to build reserve strings for this oil pipeline through the Ussuri and Bolshaya Ussurka rivers (Primorye Territory), as well as through the Zeya and Bureya rivers (Amur Region). Transneft said earlier that it expects to complete these works by 2031.

The ESPO trunk oil pipeline from the Skovorodino pumping station to the port of Kozmino, from where oil is exported to international markets, reached its maximum design capacity of 50 million tonnes per year in 2019. In 2023, 42.6 million tonnes were transshipped through the port of Kozmino, with a planned increase to 46 million tonnes in 2024.

The company is working on the possibility of increasing oil supplies to the east - in addition to work on the pipeline itself, it has brought the Gruzovaya station near the port to working condition and is building an oil pumping station in the Irkutsk Region. Last year Transneft began using anti-turbulence additives to increase pumping capacity.