OREANDA-NEWS. April 13, 2012. The Ministry of Energy together with TRANSNEFT JSC have prepared and forwarded for coordination to the Ministry of Economical Development a project of a Decree of the Government on building a "Kuyumba-Taishet" oil pipeline (from Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye zone of ESPO). The approximate value of all the measures on the pipeline building may amount 96,3 billion RUR. Financing of "Kuyumba-Taishet" projecting and building shall be fulfilled from the founds provided within the limits of the investment program by TRANSNEFT JSC. The capacity of "Kuyumba-Taishet" oil pipeline is valued as 15 million tons of oil per year, and its length is about 700 km.

Previousely, TRANSNEFT had planned to build an oil pipeline of up to 12 million tons capacity. At that, the length of the pipeline was estimated as 600 km, and its cost - about 63 billion RUR.

The project presupposes building of the pipeline itself, four oil pumping stations, a tank farm of 120 thousand cubic meters volume, and various objects of infrastructure. The termination of projecting and building is planned for the end of the year 2016. The pipeline is meant for providing oil transportation from oil fields of ROSNEFT, GAZPROM NEFT, TNK-BP Holding, and also for supporting development of minor oil production. Kuyumbinskoye and Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye oil fields shall be joint to it on the route from Kuyumba settlement (Evenkiysky district of Krasnoyarsk region) to Taishet, the head oil pumping station of the East Siberia - Pacific Ocean oil pipeline system.

According to the data of the Ministry of Energy, up to the present day, the Companies have not provided guarantees for loading this very oil pipeline yet. "Though, the Goverment’s draft decree has a point on taking into concideration the offers by TRANSNEFT and other oil companies on concluding (before the beginning of building) preliminary contracts for rendereing services on oil transportation that presuppose payments for pumping independantly of the fact of consuming such services", - noted the representative of the Department. The Ministry emphasises the fact that building of "Kuyumba-Taishet" oil pipeline will allow to compensate the decline of crude oil production in the West Siberia and will regulate the freight turnover in the system of TRANSNEFT’s trunk pipelines. "This project is very efficient and attractive economically, it provides a timely return of investments and a comparatively high level of profitability. Its efficiency rates conform efficiency rates for pipeline projects," - said the representative of the Department.

As TRANSNEFT Company clarified, the approximate project’s cost of 96,3 billion RUR in comparison of the sum of 63 billion RUR evaluated in the year 2009, takes into consideration the extension of length by 100 km, the increase of capacity and the growth of number of the pipeline’s objects (including an extra oil processing station, a tank farm and power supply lines). Besides, the new project presupposes the work pressure of 75 atmospheres instead of 60 as it had been planned before. As the Company said, there are four variants of engineering and economical calculations of the project. After the expertize of the price control, one can speak of actual sums. TRANSNEFT Company expects that the decree on this project will be signed by the Government in the middle of April. After that, Declarations of Intentions will be concluded between oil companies, and then it would be possible to calculate the final route and the price of the project.