Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia's
trans-Siberian oil pipeline's first exports will be to China, and
not Japan, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In a meeting with Western analysts and journalists at the
Kremlin late on Monday, Putin said oil will first be transported to
China's oil center in Daqing, Heilongjiang
Province,
according to the newspaper, citing participants of the meeting.
"The Daqing pipeline will be built first," Putin reportedly told
the group. "But we will also build to Nakhodka."
The Russian government refused to comment on the report.
According to the newspaper, construction of the pipeline is to
begin late this year, with the first stage capable of carrying 30
million metric tons of crude oil annually from the Siberian city of
Taishet to Skovorodino near the Chinese border.
From there, the pipeline is expected to take two-thirds of the
oil south to Daqing, while the remaining 10 million metric tons
would be shipped by rail to a new port to be built on the Pacific
coast near Nakhodka. The project is expected to be completed around
2008.
Putin also pledged to expand the line's capacity to 50 million
metric tons a year, or roughly 1.2 million barrels per day, and to
extend the line all the way to the Pacific coast some time in the
future, the?newspaper reported.
Putin reiterated Russia's plan to expand its oil production amid
worries about declining global petroleum supplies.
(China Daily September 9, 2005)