FANIPOL, 16 January (BelTA) – The first long-range oil product pipeline in Belarus has been commissioned. The pipeline is 292km long and now connects Novopolotsk and Fanipol, BelTA has learned.
The pipeline allows delivering diesel fuel and gasoline from the oil refinery Naftan to Belorusneft's oil product storage facilities in Krulevshchizna, Vitebsk Oblast and Fanipol, Minsk Oblast.
The first section of the oil product pipeline connected Novopolotsk-based Naftan and a petroleum tank farm in Krulevshchizna in early 2017. The second section of the pipeline will allow transporting oil products to the central part of the country – to Belarus' largest petroleum tank farm in Fanipol. It will allow delivering up to 1 million tonnes of automobile fuel per annum to Minsk Oblast.
The project has been implemented by OAO Polotsktransneft Druzhba. Running the oil product pipeline is a new kind of business for the company. The total value of the investment project exceeds Br70 million. The money is expected to be recouped within 5-7 years.
Vladimir Sizov, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, noted that the first oil product pipeline is a strategic project for the entire industry because it allows transporting fuel fast and at a minimal cost. The petroleum tank farm in Fanipol can provide fuel not only to Minsk and the oblast but, for instance, some parts of Brest Oblast, Grodno Oblast, and Mogilev Oblast.
Sergei Kamornikov, Deputy Director General of the industrial group Belorusneft, specified that the cost of pumping fuel from Novopolotsk to Fanipol via the oil product pipeline is roughly 25% lower than the cost of delivering fuel by rail.
Asked about plans to design such installations in the future, the executive noted that the possibility of building the so-called southern oil product pipeline – from Mozyr Oil Refinery towards Poland via petroleum tank farms in Pinsk, Kobrin, and Bernady-Priluki – had been discussed for a long time already. However, no final decision has been made. A return on investment study is in order now.
