Russia to Launch Ust-Luga Oil Terminal in November

Russia will start oil loadings at a new Baltic port of Ust-Luga in mid-November as it tries to bypass transit countries such as Belarus, industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The sources also said that the first tanker with oil from Russia’s top crude producer Rosneft will be loaded on Nov. 15.

“The loadings are set for Nov. 15… This will be a cargo of more than 100,000 tonnes,” a source said, adding that only one cargo of Urals URL-NWE-E is planned for November.

Spokesman for Transneft, Russian oil pipeline operator, said that dredging works at the port is the main obstacle for the launch.

“Once the dredging works are over, Ust-Luga will be launched,” Igor Dyomin said, adding that the pipeline, the second phase of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS-2) leading to the port, has already been filled with oil.

A loading schedule for the fourth quarter does not envisage shipments from Ust-Luga , though Russia has already changed the schedule by restarting exports from the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk and cutting shipments from Primorsk.

The second phase of BTS links the Druzhba, the Soviet-era export pipeline, to Ust-Luga, bypassing Belarus and depriving Belarus of transit fees.

Some deliveries to a Belarussian refinery at Polotsk will be rerouted from Druzhba to a spur off of BPS-2, also saving Russia transit costs.

(Reuters)