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Каспинфо декабрь 1999 |
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Название: Бюллетень Туркестан (на английском яз) Главные Пункты: Выпуск 99:154 * Казахстан решил присоединится к ВТО в ближайшие два года * TEXACO проявляет интерес к участию в проводимой в Армении разведке нефти и газа. * Некоторые разногласия между Грузией и Азербайджаном по проекту Баку-Джейхан и другие материалы Выдержки из ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОГО БЮЛЛЕТЕНЯ ТУРКЕСТАНА, выпуск 99:150 * Украина ускоряет строительство Евроазиатского коридора транспорта нефти (15.12.1999) Полный Текст Бюллетень Туркестан (на английском яз) Turkistan Newsletter - Turkistan Bulteni -Wed, 15 Dec 1999 10:19:11ISSN:1386-6265__Volume 99:154-12-December-1999 Editors: Charlie Bartholomew, Mehmet Tutuncu This issue distributes to 2930 subscribers in 65 countries Reactions to: KazakhstanFrom Kazakhstan Weekly News December 14, 1999 requests toresearch@kazks.kz Kazakhstan Plans to Join WTO Within Two Years Kazakhstan plans to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) within the next two years, Economics Minister Zhaksybek Kulekeev said on Tuesday.Kulekeev said at a press conference in Astana that the republicannounced its application for WTO membership in February 1996.Kulekeev could not give a more precise time frame on WTO entry, notingthat "this will depend not only on Kazakhstan, but also on WTO memberstates with which Kazakhstan will have to hold bilateral talks and signappropriate agreeme nts."The minister stated that the WTO demands low customs tariffs on goodsand services from its members. Kazakhstan has already submitted itsproposals on shaping customs tariffs to the WTO, Kulekeev said. He addedthat membership in the WTO should not affect the republic's customsunion shared with Russia, Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan.After joining the WTO, Kazakhstan will gain real access to internationalmarkets for the export of textiles, agricultural products and otherit ems, although the nation exports mostly raw materials at present,Kulekeev said. (Interfax, Golden Eagle Partners)Kazakhstan Produced 27 mln Tons Oil Jan - NovKazakhstan produced 27,369,278 tonnes of oil and gas condensate in thefirst 11 months of the year. This was 0.6% above target and 16.2% moreyear-on-year.It produced 6.464209 billion cubic meters of gas (1.1% below target and29.5% more year-on-year).From January through November, the state oil company, Kazakhoil,produced 5,082,097 tonnes of oil and condensate (4.3% above and 4.3%more, respectively), including 2,980,275 tonnes of oil (5.6% above and10% more) and 34,630 tonnes of condensate (9.6% below and 14% less) atUzenmunaigaz, and 2,101,822 tonnes of oil at Kazakhoil-Em ba (2.6% aboveand 2.9% less).Another nine organizations in which Kazakhoil participates produced9,458,050 tonnes of oil in this period (1.7% below and 16.4% more),including 8,826,288 tonnes at TengizChevroil (0.9% below and 15.7%more). (Interfax , Bloomberg)The joint venture TengizChevroil (TCO) expects to reach a total 1999output of 9.8 million tonnes of oil, according to TCO's director,Mendigali Sappaev. The enterprise, which operates the giant Tengiz oilfield in western Kazakhstan, has reached a production level of 26,000tonnes of crude per day. It plans to increase that level to 33,000tonnes per day next year, with a total year 2000 output forecast of 12million tonnes.TengizChevroil is a joint venture between Chevron, Exxo nMobil,Kazakhoil, and LUKArco. (Interfax, Golden Eagle Partners) *********************** ArmeniaUS Oil Giant Offers Oil Exploration in Armenia The US oil multinational TEXACO has shown interest in joining the ongoing search for oil and gas in Armenian, officials in Yerevan said onTuesday. A spokeswoman for the Armenian energy ministry, ZhasminaGhevondian, told RFE/RL that the company has "expressed a desire" toengage in geological explorations to determine w hether there arecommercially viable hydrocarbon reserves in Armenia. Senior TEXACOexecutives met with President Robert Kocharian on Monday to discuss thematter among other issues. "The company aims to carry out exploratorywork on oil and gas on t he country's territory," Kocharian's pressoffice reported.Oil exploration in Armenia was previously conducted by another smallerAmerican firm. Geologists have long suggested the existence of oilfields deep underneath some areas around Yerevan. B ut several test wellsdrilled during the Soviet period found no deposits whose commercialexploitation would be justified.Ghevondian said the most recent well drilled earlier this year 20kilometers east of the Armenian capital revealed only large reserves ofhot water. However, she said oil exploration would continue because"this doesn't mean there is no oil in Armenia."A TEXACO vice-president was quoted on Monday as telling Kocharian thatthe company will soon open an office in Yerevan, w hich will also dealwith sales and production of lubricants and car service.(Emil Danielyan)>>><<>><<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>AzerbaijanOil profits begin flowing By David Stern in BakuFive years after it first invited fore ign multinationals to help developits potentially lucrative energy sector, Azerbaijan has begun to seeprofits from one of its offshore oil consortiums.The country's first share of "profit oil", from its production-sharingagreement with the Azerb aijan International Operating Company (AIOC),has been sold to the Franco-Belgian company Totalfina, according toofficials. One million barrels will be shipped around December 19-21from the Georgian port of Supsa.Oil for profit began to flow rece ntly after the consortium paid off itsoperating costs. Future revenues will be split 50-50, with half coveringcapital expenditures and the remainder seen as profit. Azerbaijan willreceive 30 per cent of profits for the moment, although its portion willincrease steadily over the life of the contract.The oil sale is being touted by officials as a milestone in the plans ofHeydar Aliyev, president, to recreate the ex-Soviet republic as a bighydrocarbon exporter to the west. In addition to t he BP Amoco-led AIOC,created fanfare in 1994, Baku has signed 17 production-sharingagreements with foreign multinationals, which could net the smallCaspian republic up to $60bn.AIOC is now the country's only working consortium, however, with one platform producing around 115,000 barrels per day. It intends to developthree offshore fields with estimated reserves of about 630m tonnes andprojected investment of more than $10bn.Azerbaijan's economy has felt little benefit so far from the co ntractssigned. Foreign investment has remained low outside of the oil industry,and many among the country's 8m residents have grown restive waiting fora promised oil boom."The first profit oil was politically very important," said one westernoil executive. "Aliyev wanted to show the opposition that there has beensome improvement and that the money is being well managed."Government officials say they hope to earn about $100m from sales ofprofit oil next year, which could be used in part to cover the country'sgrowing deficit. Baku has also exported over the last three years some1.4m tonnes of oil from its own Soviet-era fields. Representatives fromthe International Monetary Fund have insisted on the creation of an oilfund, with p rofits collected separately and meted out gradually asneeded for infrastructure projects.Western officials have expressed fear that the so-called "wall ofmoney", expected when revenues begin in earnest in 5-10 years, couldnegatively affect compe titiveness in the non oil sector and aggravatecorruption. Talks between the government and international institutionshave only just begun, however, although Mr. Aliyev and his ministershave made commitments to the creation of a fund.More importa ntly, some say they are afraid the country lacks theinstitutional capacity to manage the money responsibly. Officials mayfund unnecessary projects or part of the money may disappear. "Theprofits will be a big temptation," said one western diplomat .>>><<>><<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>CaspianSeveral countries sign commercial shipping agreements with Azerbaijan7 December, Azer-press habarlar-l@usc.eduBaku, - The Caspian Shipping Company is contemplating the possibility ofsigning bilateral commercial shipping agreements with several countries.Azer-press learned from the CSC that draft agreements with Bulgaria,Greece and The Netherlands had been completed and were passing over foraccommodation. If the agreement s are initialed soon, the parties willwork out technical details, such as directions and volumes of cargoflows. A little earlier than these will be signed the agreements withRussia and Iran, as the CSC is planning. Russia and Iran are the onlytwo Caspian states with which no agreements on preferential treatmentpermitting passage of Azeri vessels through their interior waterways andarrival at their ports have been made to date. Azerbaijan is party tothe three-lateral commercial shipping ag reement with Ukraine andGeorgia, and bilateral agreements with Georgia, Turkey and Romania.Chevron is prepared to invest $700 mn in CPC7 December, Azer-press- prime news habarlar-l@usc.eduBaku,. Chevron was prepared to invest $700 mn in constru ction of thetrans-Caspian gas line to take Kazakh gas from Tenghiz fields toNovorossiysk, the company president Richard Matzke told the press.According to Russia's fuel and energy ministry, construction prospectsof the Caspian Pipeline Consortia depended directly on alteration 80days payback.However, the oilmen are not managing to return the currency revenues intime, and the ministry assured the problem would be solved since Russiangovernment intends to help in every way 'serious projec ts in Russiainvolving overseas investments'. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium wasfounded in 1992. The pipeline is to be 1580 km long and have the maximumcapacity of 67-mln t/yr. Exploitation term is 40 years. Russia has 24-%shares in the consortiu m, Kazakhstan and Oman have 19 % and 7 %respectively. The other 50 pc are divided between large internationaloil companies. The initial capacity of 28-mln t/yr will become usable on30 July 2001, according to the Russian fuel and energy ministry.M inisterial sources inform that the CPC's budget will reach $1.3 bn nextyear, with more than half of this sum coming from Chevron. As Mr. Matzkesaid, 'the CPC is Chevron's most attractive project'.CNPC moves to link central China with pipeline from Kazakhstan20-06-99A representative of the Chinese National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) announcedrecently that the company had begun constructing a pipeline to bringKazakh oil to central China. Under a nearly $ 10 billion investment dealsigned in 1997, CNPC is planning to build a 3,000-km pipeline from theAktobe region of western Kazakhstan to the Xinjiang Uighur autonomousregion in western China.Work on this pipeline has not yet begun, but CNPC's Vice President WuYaowen said the company had started laying pipe from Korla, located tothe south of Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, to Lanzhou in north centralChina. From Lanzhou, which is a major center of China's petrochemicalindustry, one branch of the pipeline will go east to the Henan p rovinceand another branch will go south to the Sichuan province.CNPC will be laying 4,300 km of pipe within China so that oil fromKazakhstan can flows to all parts of the country, Wu said. A generalagreement on construction of the 3,000-km pipel ine from Aktobe toXinjiang was signed during Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng's visit toKazakhstan in September of 1997. Building the pipeline is expected tocost at least $ 3 billion. Wu noted that the line would be able to carryup to 25 million me tric tons of oil per year **************** Black Sea Russia's blue stream project is considered ineffectual in Socar 7 December, Azer-press habarlar-l@usc.eduBaku, - Preparation for submission of the MEP rel ated agreements withTurkey and Georgia for approval of the parliament will be over verysoon, Azer-press learned from SOCAR. Company officials sounded confidentthat Ankara and Tbilisi would also pass the documents through theirrespective parliamen ts as there is an understanding that approval andformalities should not be delayed.SOCAR people believe the criticism of some Russian politicians andbusinessmen directed against projects of new pipelines to export Caspiangas and oil to the Turki sh market is nothing else but a side effect ofcompetition for transit and export opportunities. We were told at SOCAR,that Russia's skeptical view of Baku-Ceyhan MEP was firstly due to thefact that Moscow laid claims to the big oil transits across itsterritory but failed to persuade Azerbaijan that Baku-Novorossiysk wasthe most reliable and economically sound of them all. 'We have neverpushed this route aside and it had been one of the three options tabledsince MEP working group came to l ight. However, our partners and weopted for the route to Ceyhan in the end. Russia has no reason toconsider this line commercially faulty since our surveys of Baku-Ceyhantell of the opposite', we were told at SOCARSOCAR officials also denied tha t agreements signed in Istanbul were amere political declaration."'We had long been examining the route and signed a 2000-page package ofdocuments that indicate all the practical details of the project withsufficient clarity. In these documents s igned in Istanbul we have givenmany parameters of the pipeline and all the parties' obligations, so itis simply illogical to say the agreements are of political nature.Certainly, we could not catch every particularity in these agreementssince the detailed engineering is not started yet. However, we areconfident that further research is only going to prove the previousfindings."As for Caspian gas transport projects, Russia is a sheer rival toAzerbaijan and Turkmenistan in this aspect, hen ce the inefficiencyclaims. We expect, and we are certain, that we will be able to win thestruggle for the Turkish market. Our pipeline will be built much earlierand Caspian gas will be much more suitable for Turkey," said SOCAR'sofficials.Azeri experts feel that all the critical statements about Caspian gasprojects are in truth applicable to the Blue Stream projects, as it isineffectual indeed. It should be mentioned that the Turkish governmenthad to decide to switch power off for two h ours every day in Ankarabecause the country does not have alternative gas supply sources. Suchan untoward situation is caused by reduction of Russian gas supplies bymore than 20 %.Russian Government approves project of gas export to TurkeyAs i mplementation of the project of Russian gas export to Turkey alongBlack Sea bed, which has been widely labeled as Blue Stream, is nearing,the government of the Russian Federation has approved the $1.7 billionproject signed in 1997. The project rep resents strategic importance,therefore, Russia and Turkey have exempted companies involved from alltax on all construction operations and for the first 15 years of thepipelines operation. Last week, Russian Gazprom, Italian ENI and anumber of oth er western companies agreed to start laying the pipelinevia Black Sea to Turkey. Blue Stream envisions laying two under-watergas pipelines, each 380-km long. Export of gas is scheduled to commencein the spring of 2001. 365 billion cubic meters o f gas will betransported in the 20 years of the pipelines operation, as the bulk ofexpenses will be assumed by Gazprom.Turkey tells ENI to move ahead with Blue StreamNovember 30, 1999 ReutersItalian oil company ENI should go ahead with a pipel ine project to bringRussian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea from 2001 even though Turkey'sgas purchase priority belongs to Caspian suppliers, a Turkish officialsaid on November 19."ENI should continue work" Reuters quoted a senior energy ministr yofficial as saying, when asked about a comment from an ENI official,chief financial officer Marco Mangiagalli, that the pipeline'sconstruction would begin in August 2000 with completion in 2001.ENI and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom have been dev eloping the BlueStream project, which envisages a 1,200 km (750-mile) pipeline fromsouthern Russia to Turkey's capital Ankara through a 400-km Black Seapassage. "We need gas, no matter where it comes from," Reuters quotedthe official, who asked n ot to be identified, as saying. "But of courseour official priority goes to Turkmen gas," he added.Analysts are skeptical over Blue Stream because it requires a pipelinepassing at a depth of 2,100 metres under the Black Sea - the deepestsubsea p assage ever in the world. Turkey has been involved in threemajor gas and pipeline projects to quench its thirst for gas. The BlueStream project for 16 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year of Russian gascompetes with a Trans-Caspian gas line from Turk menistan with an annualsupply of 16 bcm and another from Iran for three bcm a year.Another energy official said he believed Blue Stream, snubbed byTurkmenistan and Azerbaijan which want to shut out Russia on their gasdeals with the West, could b e the quickest project to be realized tosupply gas to Turkey, despite Turkey's official pro-Caspian policy. "Webelieve that ENI has sufficient financial reserves to finance the BlueStream project," Reuters quoted him as saying. The Turkmen gas dea l isscheduled to come on stream from 2002. The Iranian deal, planned for1999, has been delayed as both Turkey and Iran failed to complete thepipeline to extend from Iran's Tabriz to Ankara.Blue Stream 29 Nov 1999 GAZPROMRIA Novosti (in Russian )The works on installation of lines of a gas pipeline " a Light-blue flow" [Blue Stream] will begin the coming days. All necessary documents forrealization of the project " a Light-blue flow " will be signed byRussia and Turkey the next week. As has informed RIA "News" the chapterof OAO of "Gazprom" of Rem Vjahirev, the works on installation of linesof a gas pipeline will begin in 10 days. As he said, the civil work willbegin at once on all three sites of a gas pipeline.Vjahirev emphasi zed, that the document would be signed in the workingorder of each of the parties " by itself, at home ".Tuapse Downwarp, Black Sea, RussiaOil and Gas potential assessed as 6.5 billion tons (45 BBOE).Internet Geology News Letter, No. 15, Octob er 18, 1999http://geocities.com/internetgeologyFrom Dr. James Clarke USGS - over 40 years translating Russian geologyinto EnglishThe Tuapse downwarp lies offshore in the Black Sea parallel to the coastfrom Novorossiysk past Tuapse to Sochi. It is about 60 km wide and 250km long, and water depth is in general 2,000 m. It is locatedimmediately south of the Caucasus Range.Thickness of the Cenozoic section here has been estimated at 6-14 km.Parallel on the south of the Tuapse downwarp is t he Shatsky Ridge, ananticlinal structure expressed in the sea floor topography by a smallarea where water depth is less than 2000 m.Tugolesov and others (1985) gave a rather high appraisal for theJurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, and Eocene of the Shatsky structure.For the Tuapse downwarp, however, they allocated only small pools inMiocene and Pliocene sediments - this because of absence of suitablefolds and the predominance of stratigraphic traps.A study by Glumov and Viginskiy (1999) a ssesses the potential of theTuapse downwarp using the volume-genetic method. The West Kuban downwarpjust north of the Caucasus Range is taken as an analog. Clays of theOligocene-Miocene Maykop Series are the source beds. The ratio of volumeof May kop sediments of the Tuapse downwarp to that of the West Kubandownwarp is placed at 3.8 (53,500 to 14,100 cubic km). On this basis,the total hydrocarbon resources of the Tuapse downwarp are assessed as6.5 billion tons (45 BBOE). This figure, howev er, is probably much toooptimistic because the Maykop source beds of the downwarp are largelyimmature due to a very low geothermal gradient.More than 50 local highs have been recorded by seismic surveys in theTuapse downwarp. Many are caused by clay diapirs. They range in lengthfrom a few kilometers to 20-25 km. These are grouped in zones that havea general Caucasus trend. Bright spots on the seismic records indicatepresence of gas pools. The Miocene-Pliocene section is regarded as them ost favorable for discovery (Petroleum Geology, vol. 34 no. 1, p.67-73, 2000, in press).Lateral migration in the Black Sea is extremely important such thatthere is considerable potential for oil and gas along its margins. TheTuapse downwarp, how ever, is in the migration shadow of the ShatskyRidge. This in addition to immaturity of the Maykop source beds detractsfrom the potential of this downwarp; however, the possibility of chargefrom a source rock deeper than the Maykop in the Tuapse d ownwarp cannotbe discounted. (Eugene Iwaniw, personal communication). See alsoRobinson and others, Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 13, no. 2, p.195-225, 1996.Copyright 1999 James Clarke -Tuapse ********************** GeorgiaGeorgia argues on several provisions of Baku-Ceyhan project7 December, Azer-press-prime-newsBaku, - Azerbaijan's MEP working group would go to Tbilisi on 13December to finalize the issues related to construction of t he pipeline,said GIOC president Ghiya Chanturiya. The parties are expected toaccommodate and sign two inter-governmental agreements by 15 December,however, the Georgian side still argues on several points. For instance,there is the necessity of c larifying environmental problems related topipeline construction, division of responsibility in the event ofnatural disasters, compliance between the project's details and all thecountries' constitutions.Mr. Chanturiya said the financial documen ts would be finalized in 2000,and the tender for construction in Azerbaijan and Georgia would beannounced in early 2001.The maximum planned capacity of the oil pipeline is 60-mln t/yr and thepipe diameter is 120 cm.GIOC president Ghiya Chanturiy a said at the press conference in Tbilisiyesterday, that Georgia would sign requisite MEP agreements withAzerbaijan, but on the three main conditions. Georgia should be freefrom any obligation to cover force majeur damages and costs. (In theopini on of Mr. Chanturiya, this is down to AIOC since it theconsortium's oil to flow through the pipe). The environmental safety ofthe project would be enhanced and the constitutional issues would besettled.According to Mr. Chanturiya, Georgia also wants the agreements withAzerbaijan to reflect the former's wish to extract 2-3 % of oil volumesto go to Ceyhan. The working groups of Azerbaijan and Georgia will bediscussing these points in Tbilisi on 13-15 December. Prime MinisterArtur Rasizad e considered it inexpedient to free Georgia from theobligation to compensate damages caused by force majeur circumstances,so this point is probably going to be the most difficult one during thenegotiations in Tbilisi. Azerbaijan and Georgia have t o sign aninter-governmental and a transit agreement, and vice-premier AbidSharifov believes this is to happen before 15 December.Georgia will be earning $200-250 mln a year on Baku-Ceyhan MEP7 December, Azer-press habarlar-l@usc.eduBaku, - Ghi ya Chanturiya, president of Georgian International OilCorporation (GIOC), claimed at the press conference on 6 December thatGeorgia would be earning the annual revenues of $200-250 mn ontransiting oil through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline as well a s using theinfrastructure. Mr. Chanturiya said that President Shevardnadzesuggested, while meeting with the leaders of the Caspian states inIstanbul, that Georgia should be allowed to use 2-3 % of the totalenergy resources traveling across its te rritory. In addition, anycompany that is engaged in downstream production in Georgia should beplaced in a position to purchase as much oil as it might happen to needdirectly from the volumes going through Baku-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa.Mr. Chanturiy a said that it was planned to build a new refinery nearSupsa that would be producing to European standards. So far, there areno analogues of such a plant in the whole of the Black Sea region, andthe future out-puts will be exported for the most pa rt. Meanwhile, theexisting refinery in Batumi will be covering domestic demand uponcompletion of its current refurbishment. American Company OTS Capitalshall complete the feasibility report for the new refinery in Supsa bythe end of the year, and the Georgian and American sides have almostfinished all research for the project in the meantime. All is left to dois discuss a range of technical and commercial aspects of the project.'We still mean to offer SOCAR ten to fifteen per cent in the futurerefinery in Supsa, with the possibility for GIOC to acquire interest inany of future Caspian oil consortia in return,' remarked Mr. Chanturiya.He added that no such proposal had been made officially yet.GIOC remains adhered to the planned negotiations upon building of therefinery with those companies that are interested to have their oilprocessed in Supsa.GIOC expects to make contracts not only in AIOC but also beyond it, withoil companies operating in Kazakhstan, specifically wit h Chevron andMobil. Initial capacity of the new refinery will be up to 3 mn t/yr, andthen exactly 3 mn t/yr, with the final capacity at roundabout 12 mnt/yr. This increase is tied to the rising production in Azerbaijan. Thefirst stage expenditure on the plant will equal $300 mn, and GIOCproposes to complete construction within eighteen months. According toGIOC experts, the current oil demand in Georgia is approximately 6-mlnt/yr. ******************** TURKISTAN-ECONOMY-BULLETIN...ISSN:--1386-6265 Volume 99:150-06-December-1999 Editors: Charlie Bartholomew, Mehmet Tutuncu This issue distributes to 2829 subscribers in 65 countries Reactions to: < turkistan-n-request@nic.surfnet.nl This issue distributes to 2593 subscribers in 65 countries Ukraine Ukraine accelerates construction of the Eurasian oil transport corridor 24 November, Azer-press KIEV, - The government of Ukraine obliged its economy ministry to work out the options of instituting the favorable investment regime for the construction of the Eurasian oil transport corridor by 15 December. Vice-premier Anatoly Kinah told the press that the diversification of energy supplies to Ukraine was the matter of national security. According to Mr. Kinah, the problem shall be solved following the completion of the Yuzhny oil terminal and of Odessa-Brodi oil pipeline. Saying that the agreement on MEP Baku-Ceyhan was 'a very serious political solution', Mr. Kinah added that Ukraine had to commission the terminal near Odessa and Odessa-Brodi pipeline in 2000 so as to make use of the resources of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. It should be remembered that Ukraine's Gosneftegazprom submitted for consideration of the investors the concept of developing the trans-Ukraine route, and Azer-press is informed that SOCAR and several AIOC shareholders (including BPAmoco) are being fairly loyal to this project. Appearance of this transport corridor would make it possible to supply Caspian oil to the refineries in Ukraine as well as to Slovakia, Czechia and even to Austria by using the vacant capacities of the Druzhba main going by Brodi (has been used by 60-70 pc in the past several years). Further extension of the pipeline to Adamova Zastava (300 km) would make it possible to ship oil to Poland and Germany by using the vacant capacities of Druzhba-2 main. In addition, Caspian oil could pass along the Ukrainian corridor to the northwest Europe that has until now been traditionally oriented to the low-sulphur oil from the fields in the North Sea. In this connection, it is possible to extend the transport corridor Baku-Supsa-the Yuzhny -Adamova Zastava to the Baltic ports of Gdansk, Rostock and Ventspils. If the reverse pipeline Loyna-Willhelmshafen (Germany) is ever built, Azeri oil can be piped to all refineries along the existing pipeline networks of Europe, and without any extra re-shipping by tankers in the North and Baltic Sea ports. Azer-press reference: Kiev has invested approximately $150 mn in this project so far. By the preliminary plans, 466 km of Odessa-Brodi pipeline must be completed by the end of this year (the total length of 667 km). The initial commissioning of the Yuzhny terminal and of this pipeline is set for 2001. At first, the terminal will have the annual transit capacity of 9 mn tons, and the pipeline's capacity will be 14 mn t/yr. In the future, however, the route will be able to handle as much as 40-mn t/yr. The total cost of the project is calculated to equal $450 mn. |