Pipeliners

26.04.2006 - IntelliNews Today - According to oil transportation monopoly Transneft's head Semion Vainshtok, the first stage of the crude oil transporting pipeline linking Russia and Asian markets will be ready by 2008. The construction works are set to start within a couple of days in Taishet, west of Baikal lake, and will be finished in Skovorodino (some 2,000 km to the east), near the Chinese border. The second phase of the project envisages completing the oil pipeline's trunk eastward to the Pacific coast. The companies engaged in the project are to decide on the pipeline’s ultimate direction. It is estimated that the project's cost will amount to some USD 6.5bn. The planned pipeline’s length is around 4,000 km.