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Druzhba pipeline

The Druzhba pipeline (нефтепровод «Дружба»; also had been referred as the Comecon Pipeline) is the world's longest oil pipeline, it carries oil some from southeast Russia to points in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Germany. The name "Druzhba" means "friendship", alluding to the fact that the pipeline was intended to supply oil to the energy-hungry western regions of the Soviet Union, to its "fraternal socialist allies" in the former Soviet bloc, and to western Europe. Today, it is the largest principal artery for the transportation of Russian (and Kazakh) oil across Europe.

History

On 18 December 1959, the 10th session of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), held in Prague, adopted a decision and an agreement was signed on construction of a trunk crude oil pipeline from the USSR into Poland, Czechoslovakia, GDR and Hungary. Each country was to supply all necessary construction materials, machinery and equipment. In 1962, first oil reached to Czechoslovakia, in September 1963 to Hungary, in November 1963 to Poland, and in December 1963 to GDR. The whole of the pipeline was put into operation in October 1964. The first oil pumped through the Druzhba pipeline originated from the oil fields in Tatarstan and Samara (Kuybyshev) Oblast. In 1970s the Druzhba pipeline system was further prolonged at the expense of parallel lines.

Route

The pipeline begins from Almetyevsk in Tatarstan, southeastern Russia, where it collects oil from western Siberia, the Urals, and the Caspian Sea. It runs to Mozyr in southern Belarus, where it splits into a northern and southern branch. The northern branch crosses the remainder of Belarus across Poland to Schwedt in Germany. It supplies refineries in Płock and in Schwedt. The northern branch is also connected by the Płock-Gdansk pipeline with the Naftoport terminal in Gdansk, which is used for oil re-exports. In Schwedt the Druzhba pipeline is connected with the MVL pipeline to Rostock and Spergau.

The southern branch runs south through Ukraine. In Brody the Druzhba pipeline is connected with the Odessa-Brody pipeline, which is currently used to ship oil from the Druzhba pipeline to the Black Sea. In Uzhgorod the pipeline splits into lines to Slovakia (Druzhba-1 - original Druzhba route) and to Hungary (Druzhba-2). The line trough Slovakia is divided once again near Bratislava: one branch leading in a northwest to Czech Republic and the other going southward to Hungary. The Druzhba-1 pipeline branches off toward Hungary at Ipeľ, crosses the Hungarian border at Dregelypalank and leads to Százhalombatta. In Hungary, the Druzhba-1 pipeline supplies Duna refinery while Druzhba-2 supplies Duna and Tisza refineries.

The Mažeikių refinery in Lithuania and Ventspils oil terminal in Latvia are connected to the main pipeline by the branch pipeline from Unecha junction in Bryansk Oblast. This branch has ceased operation in 2006 and is not likely to become operational in any time soon.

The part of Druzhba pipeline system, which runs via Belarus, is long. The length of the pipeline in Ukraine is , in Poland in , in Hungary , in Lithuania , in Latvia , and in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic together around .

Technical features

The Druzhba pipeline currently has a capacity of 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day. Work is currently underway to increase this in the section between Belarus and Poland. The pipes of the pipeline varies from to . It uses 20 pumping stations.

Operators

The Russian part of the pipeline is operated by the oil company Transneft through its subsidiary OAO MN Druzhba. In Belarus the operator is Gomeltransneft Druzhba, in Ukraina UkrTransNafta, in Poland PERN company, in Slovakia Transpetrol, in the Czech Republic Mero and in Hungary MOL.

Proposed extensions

Druzhba Wilhelmshaven Oil Pipeline

There have been proposals to extend northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline to the German North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven, which would reduce oil tanker traffic in the Baltic Sea and make it easier to transport Russian oil to the United States. In 2007, German Oil Trading Gmbh (GOT) proposed to build a connection from Unecha to Wilhelmshaven with a possible branch to Polish and German oil refineries. The proposed connection would be long and would have capacity of 25 million tonnes of oil a year, which may be increased to 50 million tonnes. The expected cost of this project is US$2.5-billion and it may be operational already in 2010.

Druzhba Adria

The Druzhba-Adria Pipeline Integration Project is a proposal to extend the pipeline to pass through Hungary and Croatia to reach the Adriatic Sea at the deep-water port of Omišalj.

In the first phase, the Croatian portion of the Adria pipeline will be reconstructed from the Sisak pumping station to Omišalj harbour. The Croatian company JANAF is responsible for the design of the initial project phase, to reverse the phases of the Adria pipeline (which currently carries oil from the port inland) on the Sisak-Omišalj portion.

The proposal was touted by the Croatian president Stipe Mesić but it has also garnered a lot of negative press due to complaints from the environmentalist groups such as Eko Kvarner.

It is also proposed to connect Druzhba Adria with the planned Pan-European Pipeline.

Schwechat–Bratislava Oil Pipeline

Schwechat–Bratislava two-way oil pipeline project was proposed in 2003. It would allow to supply the OMV owned Schwechat Refinery from the Druzhba pipeline.

Baltic Pipeline System-2

The Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) is a planned pipeline, which is proposed to run from the Unecha junction of the Druzhba pipeline near the Russia-Belarus border to the Primorsk oil terminal at the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. The throughput capacity of BPS-2 will be 50 to 75 million tons annually. The project was proposed after the oil dispute between Russia and Belarus, and it was approved by the Russian government on 21 May 2007.