Odessa–Brody pipeline
| Odessa–Brody pipeline (Sarmatia pipeline) | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | Ukraine, (Poland) |
| Coordinates | [1] |
| General direction | south–north–west |
| From | Yuzhne (Odessa suburb) |
| Passes through | Brody, Płock |
| To | Brody, (Gdańsk) |
| General information | |
| Type | oil |
| Partners | UkrTransNafta, PERN Przyjazn SA, GOGC and the SOCAR, Klaipedos Nafta |
| Operator | UkrTransNafta |
| Commissioned | 2002 |
| Technical information | |
| Length | 674 km (419 mi) |
The Odessa–Brody pipeline (also known as Sarmatia pipeline) is a crude oil pipeline between the Ukrainian cities Odessa at the Black Sea, and Brody near the Ukrainian-Polish border. There are plans to expand the pipeline to Płock, and furthermore to Gdańsk in Poland. The pipeline is operated by UkrTransNafta, Ukraine's state-owned oil pipeline company.
The usage and direction of Odessa–Brody pipeline is considered to be of considerable geopolitical significance and has thus been the subject of both political disagreement and international pressure. The pipeline was originally intended to reach Gdańsk in order to transfer oil from the Caspian Sea (mainly from Kazakhstan) to the Polish Baltic Sea port and from there to the rest of Europe. The Pivdenny maritime terminal in Odessa and the pipeline between Odessa and Brody was built in May 2002 by Ukrnaftogazbud and operated by UkrTransNafta. UkrTransNafta was established to develop the commercial attractiveness of the Odessa–Brody pipeline. However, the pipeline remained unused until 2004.
However, as sufficient capacities of oil supplies were not agreed, on 5 July 2004 the Ukrainian cabinet accepted proposal of Russian oil companies to reverse the pipeline flow, and thus making it transfer Russian oil southwards to the Black Sea and from there to Mediterranean destinations. Currently the oil is shipped to the pipeline from the junction of the southern branch of Druzhba pipeline. On 24 March 2010, Ukraine's ambassador to Belarus proposed the pipeline begin operating in the averse direction in order to deliver Venezuelan crude to Belarusian refineries.
The current length of the pipeline is 674 kilometres (419 mi). The pipeline is operated by Ukrtransnafta, and the oil is shipped by TNK-BP. In 2006 TNK-BP pumped 3.42 million tons of oil through the pipeline. In 2007, this volume was exceeded as already during seven month in January–July almost 5.3 million tons of oil were pumped transported.
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