MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Transneft will put a project to build an Arctic oil pipeline on hold until it receives guarantees from domestic crude suppliers and foreign customers, the state-owned pipeline operator's chief executive said Thursday.
The proposed $2.2-billion pipeline will stretch for more than 450 kilometers (280 miles) and is designed to pump 12 million metric tons per year (240,000 bbl/d) of oil from a major deposit in northwestern Russia to the country's Arctic coast. Under existing plans, the crude will then be loaded onto tankers and shipped to customers in Europe and North America.
"We will not begin the Kharyaga-Indiga pipeline's construction until we have received guarantees from oilmen on filling the pipeline to capacity and a reply from American partners stating they are willing to accept the crude, of a quality different from theirs, at their refineries," Transneft boss Semyon Vainshtok said.
In April, the Transneft chief executive said a feasibility study for the pipeline, to source oil from the Timan-Pechora basin, could be completed in November this year. He said once the Kharyaga-Indiga oil pipeline went on line, higher-grade Timan-Pechora crude would not have to be mixed with Russia's standard Urals blend, which has a higher sulfur content.
The Timan-Pechora field's recoverable reserves have been reported at 20 billion barrels oil equivalent, with crude accounting for 66%, natural gas for 30%, and condensate 4%.
