The last day of 2004 the Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov issued
the regulation that finally determined the route of the united
Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean oil pipeline system. The Eastern
Siberia-Pacific Ocean project provides for the construction of the
oil pipeline: the town of Taishet (Irkutsk region) - the town of
Skovorodino (Amur region) - the Perevoznaya Bay (Primorsky Krai).
The total capacity of the pipeline is up to 80 million tons of oil
a year, total investment outlay is about 16 billion dollars. The
pipeline is going to be constructed by 2008.
The Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean project has to pass several
stages. The first stage is the construction of the Taishet -
Skovorodino section of the pipeline. At the same time a terminal in
Nakhodka is going to be constructed, where oil is to be transported
to by railway. The second stage is the construction of the
Skovorodino - Perevoznaya section. It can only be started after oil
industry workers start industrial development of oilfields in
Eastern Siberia and Yakutiya. The thing is the material base of the
project is 24 million tons of oil from Western Siberia and 56
million tons from oil fields of Eastern Siberia and the Sakha
Republic (Yakutiya), and most of them have not been developed yet
(Mr. Fradkov entrusted the minister of natural resources Trutnev
"to work out the program of geological exploration and use of
hydrocarbon fields of Eastern Siberia and the Far East". The
program, as well as the stage of the oil pipeline's construction,
shall be endorsed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the
Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Economic
Development by May 1).
In official circles there are people critical about perspectives
of transporting Siberian oil to Pacific terminals.
Their position was stated in an extensive report of the Center
for Strategic Studies (CSS), formed by the order of the Ministry of
Economic Development and published in late October 2004. The
estimated cost of the construction increases every year, and then
it was 15 billion dollars. Some time ago, when Moscow was trying to
decide about the pipeline's destination - China or the Pacific
Ocean - Japan several times declared its readiness to invest the
construction. However, according to some information, Japan was
actually interested in frustrating "the Chinese project". It
achieved its aim: the "Angarsk-Datsyn" scenario actively promoted
by Ukos was rejected. At the same time Japanese promises to invest
the oil pipeline were forgotten.
It's not clear what a pipeline with the capacity of 80 million
tons can be used for. According to CSS, "with the existing amount
of confirmed oil stocks in the Eastern Siberian region, plans of
constructing a new large oil pipeline infrastructure in the region
are not real". Without oil fields in the Tomsk region, petroleum
production in Eastern Siberia by 2010 will not exceed 25 million
tons per year, while for the oil pipeline to be profitable at least
50 million tons have to be produced.
There are also serious ecological objections: the route of the
oil pipeline is quite complicated: it crosses about 50 big and
small rivers, tens of highways and railroads, mountain ranges...
All this together with extreme climate conditions and high seismic
activity in the territory (10-11 magnitude on the Richter scale)
creates risks during the construction, use and provision of safety
of the pipeline. The pipeline crosses the largest river of the
Baikal basin - the Angara River. Even a small oil leakage, let
alone a rupture of the oil pipeline, will result in pollution of
not only the river itself, but also Lake Baikal. Residents of
Khabarovsk will also be affected in case of an accident. According
to the plan, the eastern pipe is to cross the Amur basin upstream
the place where the town takes drinking water. In the Perevoznaya
bay salmon spawns, and next to it there are the only in Russia sea
reserve, "Kedrovaya Pad" reserve and "Barsovy" preserve.
Taking these facts into account, Russian ecologists were going
to hold an environmental impact assessment of the pipeline, however
they were not allowed to fulfill their right provided for by the
federal law "On Public Assessment". The rejection was illegal,
which an appropriate regulation of the RF Prosecutor's Office
proves. There has been so far no public assessment of the project,
registered by several regional and national environmental
organizations, including WWF, Ecoyuris, Green Cross and Greenpeace,
because necessary materials were not provided. "Public assessment"
was held by a "friendly" charity organization "Public Ecology" that
made a positive resolution.
The expert panel of the State environmental impact assessment
also endorsed the project. Its chair Mr. Nikolaev said: "We were
given three months to carry out the assessment; however, they hurry
us and we finished it ahead of schedule". This is the evidence of
serious pressure on the experts.
About the same time Russian ecological organizations sent an
open letter to President Putin. The authors of the letter revealed
facts of violation of the legislation and asked "the guarantor of
the Constitution" to support the law and to protect the nature of
Siberia and the Far East. There has been no significant reaction so
far.
And here comes the last day of 2004. The government gave us a
new year present. May the pipeline be!
Ecologists of the Irkutsk region once again called on the RF
President Putin and the chair of the government Fradkov.
Greenpeace Russia joins the demands!