Chinese experts expressed their reserved acceptance of Russia's
decision to push through the long-awaited pipeline from East
Siberia to Northeast China, but have remained cautious about
uncertainties surrounding the project.
On
Friday, the Russian Government announced its decision to build the
pipeline that will eventually stretch towards Japan, with a
separate branch reaching China's Daqing.
The decision is widely viewed as a compromise made by the Kremlin
to please both Japan and China, which have lobbied hard in recent
months to secure access to the same reserve of Russian oil through
rival trunk lines.
"The result is not bad for China," said an industrial insider, who
has been closely monitoring the project for years. "We have taken
the first step in securing the Russian oil, although there is still
a great deal of details that need to be hammered out."
Another industrial official, who declined to be named, said: "We
will get what we originally wanted. It is their business if they
want to extend the line to Japan."
China and Russia have been studying plans for the US$1.7 billion
Sino-Russian oil line since 1994. According to the original design,
the 2,400-kilometer pipeline is expected to deliver 20 million tons
of oil annually from Angarsk in the Irkutsk region to Daqing from
2005. The amount will rise to 30 million tons by 2010.
Talks on the project were suspended last December after Russia's
pipeline monopoly Transneft tabled a new proposal to transport the
Angarsk oil to its Far East port city Nakhodka. The route is about
60 percent longer and two times more expensive than the
Angarsk-Daqing project.
The industrial official said the new proposal included minor
changes deviating from China's original plan, to reflect Russia's
new decision.
"There are no technical difficulties brought about by the
changes."
But uncertainties still surround the project, heightened by the
Russian Government's announcement that further changes may still be
made if the project is not found to be economically feasible.
(China Daily March 18, 2003)