03

sep   10

CHINA TO COMPLETE SEGMENT OF ESPO PIPELINE IN OCTOBER
CHINA


 

Beijing - In October China will complete its segment of the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, the longest oil infrastructure in the world. According to the Interfax News Agency, this was announced today by the Chines project coordinator Lu Jicheng. Russia has already completed its part of the pipeline and on Sunday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin officially opened the tap. The stretch between Mohe, at the Russian-Chinese border, and Daqing, is yet to be finished so as to complete the infrastructure. ESPO is a four thousand kilometer long pipeline built to transport oil from Siberia's fields to the Pacific and supply the wealthy Japanese market. The pipeline starts in Taishet, in  the Irkutsk region, at the Kozmino terminal on the Pacific Ocean. The first stretch of this infrastructure between Taishet and Skovorodino is now ready. The second stretch between Skovorodino and Kozmino, should be completed by 2013. Work on the Chinese section started in April 2009, when Moscow and Beijing reached an agreement for a Chinese maxi-loan of 25 billion dollars to be paid off with crude oil supplies.