UKRAINE PIPELINE OPERATOR SIGNS NEW DEAL
The deal between Ukrtransnafta and TNK-BP foresees annual shipment of some 9 million metric tons (9.9 million US tons) of Russian crude from the western Ukrainian town of Brody to the Black Sea port of Odessa for shipment to southern Europe during the next three years, the Interfax news agency reported.
Commercial shipments could start in October, the Agency said, citing Leonid Naster, spokesman of Ukrtransnafta. AS known, earlier this month, Ukraine’s Cabinet agreed to open the Odessa-Brody pipeline for shipments of Russian oil, reversing a decision that limited the pipeline to Europe-bound oil shipments from the Caspian Sea region.
Built in 2001, the pipeline has been idle amid disputes over whether to send Russian oil from Odessa to Brod, near the Polish border for further transport into Europe or to send Caspian oil from Brody to Odessa. Exporters of Russian oil lobbied Kiev for months to reverse the planned flow.
The United States has opposed sending Russian oil from Brody to Odessa, saying it will increase Ukraine’s dependence on Russia for energy and raise chances of a spill as more oil tankers travel through Turkey’s blocked Bosporus channel.
The Cabinet has said the reversal is temporary, blaming it on technical problems involved in pumping crude to Poland and Germany. Ukraine also plans to extend the existing pipeline from Brody to the Polish town of Plock.
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