In 1959, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (SEV) adopted a decision on construction of a unique trunk pipeline from the USSR into Poland, Czechoslovakia, GDR and Hungary. The total length of this pipeline with all of its branches exceeded 6,000 km. It started in the Kujbyshev region (Lopatino pump station) and segmented into two parts near Mozyr in Belarus. Its northern 700 km long segment went across Poland to GDR, its southern 400 km long segment – across Czechoslovakia into Hungary. It was planned to build one more branch to the Ventspils port. Each country was to supply all necessary construction materials, machinery and equipment. All construction works were mechanized. Over 730 thousand tons of 530, 630, 720, 820 and 1020 mm pipes were laid. 31 pump stations with the fully automated controls were built to ensure normal functioning of the pipeline.
In 1962, first oil was brought by this pipeline to Czechoslovakia, in September 1963 – to Hungary, and in November 1963 – to Poland, and, in December the same year – to GDR. The whole of the pipeline was put into operation in October 1964. Its route crossed the mountain ranges and navigable rivers – the Volga, Dnepr, Danube and Tisza. Oil from Tataria and the Kujbushev region fields was the first to be pumped.
In the seventh five-year-plan period, the last segment of the Tujmazy – Irkutsk oil pipeline was commissioned in 1964. Construction of the 530 mm, 750 km long Penza – Bryansk product pipeline was brought to completion, as well as construction of small length oil pipelines: Gorky - Ryazan, Ozek - Suat – Grozny (second line), Kamenny Log - Perm, Almetjevsk - Kujbushev, Ryazan – Moscow and others in 1961-65.
By the end of the seventh five-year-plan period, development of the West Siberian fields was commenced. In 1965, around 1 million tons of oil were tapped there. The greatest problem in development of this region was absence of the oil transportation routes. The only route was along the Ob and Irtysh rivers whose navigation periods lasted for less than 6 months. Therefore, together with boosting of the oil output, it was planned to start construction of the pipelines regarded as the most economically and technically feasible oil supply routes. Already in late 1965, construction of the first Siberian Shaim – Tyumen, 530… 720 mm, 410 km long oil pipeline was accomplished.
From 1961, oil production in Kazakhstan was growing. By 1965, the Uzen and Zhetybaj fields had been put into commercial operation. The same year saw the start of construction of the 142 km long Uzen - Shevchenko oil pipeline, which was put into operation in April 1966. Further, oil to the Gurjevsky refinery was still delivered by the railroad. In total in 1961-65, around 11,000 km of pipelines were built, and by the end of 1965, the total length of the pipelines accounted for 28.5 thousand km.
The eighth five-year-plan period saw construction of the Uzen - Guriev – Kujbyshev pipeline for pumping of extra-heavy crude oil from the Kazakhstan fields. The Mangyshlak highly paraffinic crude oil (chilling temperature 30...32 °С) was pumped along the 1,020 mm heated pipeline. 18 heating stations were built for that purpose. The timely commissioning of this pipeline had allowed to boost oil production more than 10-fold and to reach 20 million tons by 1975. In 1970, construction of the third line of the 820 mm, 580 km Almetjevsk – Gorky line was completed. A pipeline now went from Gorky to Yaroslavl and further on to Kirishi.
At that period, the Druzhba oil pipeline was further prolonged by another 2,000 km, the pipes diameter was basically 1,020 mm. Its total length approached 8,000 km at the expense of parallel lines. By the end of 1970, Druzhba pumped the oils of Tataria, Bashkiria, Udmurtia, Mangyshlak, the Kujbyshev region and Western Siberia. Two new oil pipelines were built in Western Siberia. The 1,020 mm, 950 km Ust-Balyk – Omsk pipeline was put into operation in 1967. Water crossings were laid across the Ob and Irtysh rivers. Due to absence of roads, the pipes were brought to the construction site by means of transport aircraft. The 720 mm, 250 km Nizhnevartovsk - Ust-Balyk oil pipeline was none the worth than the first one, judging by the construction conditions. Its route went across the marshes, big and small rivers, streams and ravines. The 1.8 km crossing across the Ob river was very difficult to construct.
By the end of 1970, three Siberian oil pipelines steadily delivered over 30 million tons of oil to the basic routes and refineries. The total length of pipelines with account of those built in the eighth five-year-plan period was 38.5 thousand km. In 1971-1975, construction of the oil pipelines became even more intensive, and around 19,000 km were built. This was the largest reached figure in all five-year-plan periods. The most noteworthy was construction of the 1,020… 1,220 mm, 2,100 km Ust-Balyk - Ufa – Almetjevsk pipeline commissioned in May 1973. Its construction lasted for 18 months during which the online operations method was used for the first time, which further on became mandatory. It was along this pipeline that the Tyumen oil was brought to the European part of the country and further to the Novorossijsk port along the 1,020… 1,220 mm, 1,550 km Kujbyshev Tikhoretsky – Novorossijsk pipeline commissioned in the same period. In 1973, West Siberia took the leader position in the whole of the USSR in the volumes of oil production, while the latter were still growing. Therefore, year 1974 saw a start of construction of one more 1,120 mm, 2,150 km Nizhnevartovsk – Kujbyshev pipeline in Siberia. The construction of the 1,180 km segment was completed by the end of 1975 and connected by a dam with the Ust-Balyk – Almetjevsk oil pipeline.
The 1,220 mm, 817 km Alexandrovskoje – Anzhero-Sudzhensk was built in Siberia and further prolonged to Irkutsk.
In August 1973, the 377 mm Usa – Ukhta oil pipeline was put into operation in the north of the USSR, in 1975 it was prolonged to Yaroslavl and Moscow, while its total length was 1,850 km. The Druzhba pipeline was further developed. Commissioning of its second phase helped to prolong it up to 10,000 km. In 1976-80, one of the principal challenges was to expand the trunk pipeline network. Only the construction of new and expansion of old pipelines could help to develop the numerous oil fields. 1976 saw the end of construction of the Nizhnevartovsk – Kujbyshev oil pipeline and construction of an oil pipeline going along the so-called Northern Surgut – Polotsk, 1,020 mm, 3,250 km, corridor. The construction was implemented phase-by-phase in 1977-81. 32 pump stations were built along with around 1,450 crossings which helped to overcome on-path natural and artificial blocks, over 400 km of the marshes were overcome. In June 1976, the 820 mm and 250 km long Kholmogory – Surgut oil pipeline was commissioned. Oil from remote Kholmogory fields was brought along this pipeline into the general oil pipeline system.
In 1980-85, the country’s oil pipeline network was expanded by 10.6 thousand km of oil pipelines and by 5.8 thousand km of product pipelines. In 1983, the 820 mm, 1,600 km Pavlodar – Chimkent, the 720 mm, 600 km Grozny – Baku pipelines and a segment of the new 1,120 mm, 519 km Kholmogory – Klin pipeline were commissioned.
The new twelfth five-year-plan period was not brought to a finish, the plans of oil pipeline construction were also not fulfilled. The period 1985-90 saw only the end of construction of the oil pipelines, and above all of the pump stations commissioned in the previous five-year-plan period. By 1987, 94 thousand km of the oil and products trunk pipelines were built and commissioned in the USSR. They were managed by the Central Department for Oil Transportation and Supplies (Glavtransneft). It included 16 departments, which by 1990 serviced over 70 thousand km of the oil trunk pipelines. Apart from that, Glavtransneft included the Start-Adjustment Department, Directorate for Construction of Oil Pipelines and other departments. Glavtransneft was responsible for oil supplies to exports.
By 1990, the economic and political changes in the life of the country had led to a stop in construction of the new trunk pipelines. In late 1991, the USSR disappeared from the map of the world. Fifteen new states had distributed between themselves common property, including oil pipelines. The universal oil pipeline system was left only in Russia. In some of the countries only part of the trunk pipelines were left. Other countries were engaged in the Russian oil transit, which was accompanied by complete reorganization of the oil industry, Russia included. Glavtransneft was being reorganized into the Transneft joint-stock company. By that time, Transneft was operating 49.6 thousand km of oil trunk pipelines with diameters 400...1220 mm, 404 pump stations, 934 tankers with the total capacity 13.2 million m3. The operation of the oil pipeline system was implemented by 11 joint-stock companies of the oil trunk pipelines. From 1992, the company rendered services related to the oil transportation in accordance with the tariffs established by the federal executive power structures. The introduction of tariffs had ensured steady operations in the changing economic conditions, whereas all oil producers enjoyed equal rights in their oil transportation along the trunk pipelines. However, the load of АКTransneft trunk pipelines accounted at the time for mere 45% of the planned load.
Year 1992 is believed to be the start of the new epoch in the new Russia’s pipeline transportation system.
The 20th century is over now. In the changing political and economic situation in the country, the system of AK Transneft oil trunk pipelines guarantees steady pumping of oil volumes as it is required by the Russian economics.
Provision of environmental safety of the Baltic Pipeline System
Special attention is paid by joint-stock company Transneft to providing highest environmental safety of the BPS’s facilities at all stages of the project implementation – from investment planning to production facilities construction and operation.
The fact that the BPS project involves not only Russia’s interests but also those of a number of the Baltic and Northern Seas countries, has required to consider the environmental norms and standards of all countries concerned, irrespective of material differences between them, to choose appropriate standards.
Strictest ecological norms have been used in the preparation of the Project Environmental Feasibility Report – be they Russian, European or International. Such approach was simple and easy to understand, helping solve in principle the legal problem of compliance with various environmental standards to satisfy as fully as possible public demands in respect of the environment protection.
In addition to Russian specialists, a number of foreign western companies have been actively involved in the project development – German, Finnish, Danish, Dutch, US and UK. The project has been partially funded by the World Bank and the EU TASIS program.
At the same time, priority has been given to Russian norms, Russia’s nature protection legislation being more strict as compared with similar norms of the international ecological organizations and the European Union.
Moreover, basic international documents and agreements have been used in the project preparation, such as
- Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 1998), with amendments as per Protocols 1997, 1998
- Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, Helsinki, 1974
- Conversion on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea (HELCOM 1992)
- Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, 1991.
- Convention on Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, 1992.
- Operational Directive 4.01 of the World Bank. Environmental Assessment, 1991
- Environmental Procedures, EBRD (BDS96-23, Rev.3), 1996.
- Convention on oil pollution preparedness, response and cooperation 1990, as amended by Protocol 1999.
Comprehensive ecological studies have been completed as a result of project work:
Assessment of Environmental Impact procedures within the framework of the BPS have been carried out both under Russian and International standards under the aegis of the IBRD, which fact is being unprecedented and evidencing Transneft’s concern over the environment and commitment to solving ecological problems.
In developing the Feasibility Report for the 1st and 2nd stages of the BPS, a set of environmental measures was envisaged in section ‘Environmental Protection’ considering not only the conclusions and recommendations made by various expert bodies but also those resulting from consultations with public.
As a result, a full set of administrative, technical and environmental measures has been developed aimed at minimizing an adverse impact on the environment and diminution of their after-effects on both natural and social environment, such as:
- Optimum route has been chosen providing that 80% of the pipeline should run along the technical corridors of the existing oil- and gas pipelines, which would substantially minimize damage to soil, plants and animals. At the same time, in order to comply with the established norms the route is well distanced from native and water zones and inhabited localities that are being put under special protection by law.
- The tank farms of the oil pumping stations and the tanks of the oil loading terminal are equipped with pontoons and floating tank roofs, diminishing the emissions by 95%-97%. In the construction of the tank farm of the Port of Primorsk, for the first time ever in Russia, a sheet-by-sheet tanks assembling method and higher grade 09U2C steel have been used, the first sheet of 28 mm exceeding by 10 mm the standard made. The corrosion protection of tanks complies with the ISO 8501, the coating used is Amercoat, with a 20-year quality guaranty.
Oil spills non-penetration into soil is guarantied, as surface under the tanks and tanks protective installations are waterproof. Diking is made of reinforced concrete framing, which makes it completely impossible for the oil to overstep the borders of the tank protective installation.
- Directional drilling method has been used in respect of main rivers underwater crossings enabling to eliminate oil penetration into the waterways in emergency situation or adverse impact on the river bed during the pipeline construction. In addition, pipes made of higher strength steel and of higher wall thickness provided with manufacturer’s insulation have been used for all of the pipeline sections passing through the water supply points of the Neva river and the Ladoga lake. The helipads are provided along the pipeline route. Electrified gates are installed every 20 km, equipped with telemechanics and automation systems.
- Considering exceptional importance of the Neva river as being the main source of water supply for Saint-Petersburg, micro-tunneling method has been used for laying the underwater crossing to be located 10 m under the washout line, providing for the construction of a 777 m tunnel of 2000 mm reinforced concrete framing; laying a 1220x15.2 mm protective casing in which a 720x16 mm working pipeline is laid equipped with manufacturer’s insulation.
The most advanced telemecanics technology is being used – a leakage control system has been installed enabling to immediately discover even the smallest oil leaks. Application of this method having no analog worldwide makes it possible to avoid water pollution in case of emergency.
To provide safe navigation in the area of the oil loading terminal, the port of Primorsk and all access to the port, as well as the fairways and ships are being put under the control of a regional system of navigation control to allow keeping track of tankers movement accurate to 10 m.
A 3.8 sq. km Company’s responsibility zone has been established in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. Repair and Recovery Services have been established to eliminate possible oil spills in this territory including 120 highly qualified certified specialists (the IMO certificates). The services are equipped with 11 km of booms and 11 oil-gathering systems to collect 1160 cub.m of spilled oil per hour. In addition, environmental fleet of 7ships has been built including a booms installation boat, an oil skimmer, a sewage collector and an oil tank barge. Icebreaker-type tugs are being built.
The Oil Spills Elimination Plan has been developed and agreed upon with all controlling bodies by Spetzmornefteport Primorsk pursuant to current Russian legislation. Should more than 700 t be spilled, the Plan provides for involvement of regional and federal Emergency Ministry and Ministry of Transport forces. Mathematic modeling of possible scenarios for oil spills behavior has been carried out in various climate regimes. 46 environmental sensitivity maps have been worked out and priority protection zones have been determined.
Fire safe operation of the tank farm and mooring facilities is achieved by the use of an up-to-date automate fire-extinguishing system that can immediately identify any fire that will be extinguished in 10 minutes, irrespective of the fire complexity degree. Specialized fire-fighting service comprised of 47 persons has been established which regularly conducts firefighting and emergency training exercises.