Sakhalin-Russky Island gas pipeline half built in Vladivostok.

VLADIVSOTOK, November 1 (Itar-Tass) - Half of the work on the
construction of a gas pipeline to the Russky Island in Vladivostok that
will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's summit in
2012, has been completed.
The press centre of the Primorsky Territory administration told
Itar-Tass that the work is being carried out simultaneously on three
fronts: on the mainland and the Russky Island, as well as the laying of an
underground passage through the Bosfor Vostochny Strait. This is the most
difficult section the work is being carried out simultaneously on both
sides: from the Russky Island and from the Nazimov Cape. Most of the pilot
bore has been completed by now.
The gas pipeline for providing energy to facilities of the 2012 APEC
summit is an offshoot from the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas
pipeline the construction of which in the Primorsky Territory is underway
in several districts of the region at a time. More than half of 561
kilometres of pipes have already been welded.
The total natural gas consumption in the Primorsky Territory is
estimated to reach 4.6 billion cubic metres a year. The first phase of the
facility is to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011, which will make
it possible to transfer to natural gas use the Vladivostok-based TETS-1,
TETS-2 and Severnaya thermal power plants, to carry out installation of
gas supply service on the Russky Island and at the Sollers automobile
plant. The commissioning of the pipeline on the Russky Island is planned
for the third quarter of 2011.
In September 2007, the Russian Federation's Industry and Energy
Ministry approved the gas Development Programme for Eastern Siberia and
the Far East. The pipeline project was approved by Gazprom's board of
directors on 23 July 2008.
The 1,830-kilometre (1,140 mi) long Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok
gas transport system will consist of two sections. The Khabarovsk-
Vladivostok section is expected to be completed in 2011. Construction was
launched on 31 July 2009 in Khabarovsk with a ceremony, which was attended
by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Together with the first phase of
the Sakhalin-Komsomolsk-Khabarovsk section, supplying gas from the
Gazprom's Far East northern part's gas fields, it creates a
1,350-kilometre (840 mi) long (pipeline system. Afterward, the pipeline
would be expanded to Sakhalin. In Khabarovsk, it would be connected also
with the proposed Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline. In the
Primorsky Territory, the pipeline will feed a planned LNG plant, which
would produce LNG for export to Japan, and a planned petrochemical
complex. There are also plans to supply gas from Vladivostok to Japan and
South Korea by subsea pipelines. The capacity of the pipeline will be 8
billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year at the first stage, and
30-36.5 bcm later, of which 8 bcm would be supplied from Sakhalin. It is
expected to cost 21-24 billion US dollars. Originally the pipeline was
planned to be fed from the Sakhalin-III project with additional gas
provided from the Sakhalin-II project. Due to delays of developing the
Sakhalin-III, the main supplier for the pipeline will most likely be the
ExxonMobil-led Sakhalin-I project. The pipeline project is being developed
by Gazprom Invest Vostok, a subsidiary of Gazprom.
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