Russia – The first phase of the world’s longest oil pipeline has been formally launched by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to a report by the Green Car Congress. The first phase of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline cost 360 billion rubles, with another 60 billion spent to build a port in Kozmino.
The commissioning ceremony took place at the harbour, where a tanker was filled with the first batch of oil that will be shipped to Hong Kong.
ESPO was initiated in 2004 and is being built by Transneft, Russia’s state-owned pipeline company. It is intended to open the Asia-Pacific market to Russian oil, including both China and Japan. Currently, most Russian oil is produced in western Siberia and shipped via pipeline to Western Europe.
