Transneft, the Russian state oil pipeline company, plans to put stage two of its East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO-2) into operation on schedule, despite problems with pipe valves, according to international media reports.
Last week, Transneft had said that, as a result of defective valves, the company would delay the operation of the ESPO-2 project by one year.
However, Mikhail Viktorovich Barkov, vice president of Transneft, has since said that, despite the valve problem, the ESPO-2 pipeline will be put into operation on schedule at the end of 2012.
He added that the Purpe-Samotlor pipeline project in Russia will also be put into operation on time.
The ESPO line will carry oil from East Siberian fields to the Pacific coast for transport to the Asian markets.