Baltic Pipeline System

The Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) is a Russian oil transport system operated by oil pipeline company Transneft. The BPS transports oil from the Timan-Pechora region, West Siberia and the Urals-Volga region to Primorsk oil terminal at the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.

History

The project started in 1997 and the construction was completed in December 2001. In April 2006, the Baltic Pipeline System reached to its full design capacity of convert|1.3|Moilbbl|m3|sing=on of oil a day.cite news
url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17280
title=Baltic Pipeline System Set To Reduce Transit Dependency
publisher=St. Petersburg Times
date=2006-04-11
accessdate=2007-12-29]

Technical features

Main elements of the Baltic Pipeline System are:

* Yaroslavl-Kirishi pipeline
* Kirishi pumping station
* Kirishi-Primorsk pipeline
* Oil terminal in Primorsk.cite news
url=http://eng.lenobl.ru/economics/investment/principlefederalprojects/balticoilpipeline?PHPSESSID=640241724ce1bc42839f3b18b9e71f1a
title=The Baltic Pipeline System – the key federal project in the Leningrad Region
publisher=Leningrad Oblast Administration
accessdate=2007-12-29]

Controversy

During planning and construction stages, the project was criticized by environmentalists, mainly because of Baltic Sea status as a particularly sensitive sea area and Primorsk port’s proximity to the Beryozovye Islands nature reserve, a major bird sanctuary protected by the Ramsar Convention.cite news
url=http://www.delrus.ec.europa.eu/em/2000-2001/user.php-func=mag_art&art_id=222&iss_id=17.htm
title=What impact will a new port in the Baltic have on the environment?
author=Sergei Grivenkov
publisher=Journal Evropa
date=December 2000
accessdate=2007-12-29]

BPS-2

The Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) is a planned second trunk line of the system. The pipeline will run from the Unecha junction of the Druzhba pipeline near the Russia-Belarus border almost 1,000 kilometers through Bryansk, Pskov, and Leningrad oblasts to the Ust-Luga terminal.cite news
url=http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070521/65814951.html
title= PM Fradkov orders second leg of Baltic Pipeline System
publisher=RIA Novosti
date=2007-05-21
accessdate=2007-12-29] cite news
url=http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372185
title=Russia to redirect massive oil volumes from Druzhba to Baltic pipeline
author=Vladimir Socor
publisher=Eurasia Daily Monitor
date=2007-05-24
accessdate=2007-12-29] The throughput capacity of BPS-2 will be 50 to 75 million tons annually. According to Transneft’s vice-president Sergei Grigoriyev, the pipeline can be completed within 18 months and the construction cost is estimated at US$2 to US$2.5 billion. The project was proposed after the oil dispute between Russia and Belarus at the beginning of January 2007, and it was approved by the Russian government on 21 May 2007.cite news
url=http://www.neurope.eu/articles/74317.php
title=BPS-2 to redirect oil volumes from Druzhba pipeline
author=Kostis Geropoulos
publisher=New Europe
date=2007-05-26
accessdate=2007-12-29] Although in April 2008 Russia's Ministry of Industry and Energy submitted to the government its negative conclusions regarding the pipelinecite news
url=http://www.iran-daily.com/1387/3134/html/energy.htm
title=Russia Pipeline Extends Reach
publisher=Iran Daily
date=2008-05-24
accessdate=2008-06-08] , on 14 May 2008, Vladimir Putin confirmed that the pipeline will be constructed and the terminal will be located in Ust-Luga rather than in Primorsk, as was previously expected.cite news
url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1386220/ustluga_to_be_oil_pipeline_system_routes_final_point/
title=Ust-Luga to Be Oil Pipeline System Route's Final Point
publisher=Red Orbit
date=2008-05-14
accessdate=2008-06-07]

ee also

* Druzhba pipeline
* Caspian Pipeline Consortium
* Sever Pipeline

References

External links

* [http://www.transneft.ru/Ecolog/Default.asp?LANG=EN&ID=219 Baltic Pipeline System - environmental safety and reliability] , Transneft