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(Kyodo) - Russia may stop building a trans-Siberian pipeline to deliver oil to its Pacific coast as sought by Japan, if a three-year geological survey finds crude reserves to be insufficient, Interfax news agency said Wednesday, quoting a Russian energy official.
Anatoly Yanovsky, head of the Industry and Energy Ministry's fuel energy department, was quoted as saying no decision is likely to be made on additional investments if the survey for the so-called Pacific route pipeline does not bear fruit.
The prospects for the route to be completed appear uncertain, with another Russian energy official saying the same day that the crude output capacity of East Siberia, from where Japan hopes to import oil, is estimated at up to 60 million tons per year, falling short of the some 80 million tons per year needed for the route to be profitable.
The Pacific route is a 4,180-kilometer trans-Siberian link from Taishet near Lake Baikal to a point close to Nakhodka on the Russian Pacific coast facing the Sea of Japan.
Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko on Tuesday issued an order for the pipeline to be built from Taishet to the halfway point at Skovorodino near the Chinese border, in the first phase to be completed by 2008, with the remaining stretch to the Pacific coast to be carried out in the second phase.
Yanovsky said Wednesday the pipeline construction may be halted at the halfway point.
The pipeline to this point is expected to deliver 30 million tons of oil from already operating West Siberian fields, effectively for consumption in China.
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28 April 2005:
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