Pipeliners

MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti) - The signing of an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of a $1 billion oil pipeline in the Balkans has been postponed, an informed source said Monday. "The signing has been postponed for editorial reasons," the source told RIA Novosti, adding that the agreement will be signed early next week. In early February, delegations from Russia, Bulgaria and Greece signed an accord confirming that the agreement to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline had been finalized, coordinated and was ready for signing. The Greek Ministry of Development confirmed Monday that the agreement would not be signed March 6 as planned earlier. The ministry said Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece are currently discussing the date for the signing, adding that the agreement is likely to be endorsed during the next month. The 280-kilometer (175-mile) pipeline will pump Russian oil to Europe, the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region via the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas and Greece's Alexandroupolis, on the Aegean, enhancing the countries' roles as key energy transit hubs. The Russian Industry and Energy Ministry told RIA Novosti earlier that the agreement will be submitted to the government by the end of the week. Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece signed a memorandum on the pipeline in April 2005, which will pump 35 million metric tons of oil a year (257.25 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be increased to 50 million metric tons (367.5 million bbl). The project, designed to bypass the crowded Bosporus Strait in Turkey, received a further boost during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Greece in September 2006, when he met with the Greek prime minister and Bulgaria's president to discuss the pipeline. The project has been on the table for more than 10 years, but progress has been slow, reportedly due to Russian producers' reluctance to contribute oil to the pipeline. Russia's state-controlled oil producer Rosneft [RTS: ROSN], state pipeline operator Transneft, and energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] will hold a total of 51% in the project, while Greece and Bulgaria will control 24.5% each.