Gazprom To Build Russia's Most Expensive Pipeline

Gazprom is about to set a record in cost terms for gas pipeline projects in Russia. Preliminary estimates of the construction cost of the 2,035-kilometer Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipeline range between $21bn and $24bn depending on the number of compressor stations along the route.

The construction of the pipeline is expected to start in September and be completed by late 2011. The pipeline is projected to have a capacity of 100m cubic meters of gas per day, or 36.5bn cubic meters per year, said Dmitry Sholokhov, head of the Russian energy holding's subsidiary Gazprom Invest Vostok. He noted that three alternative options for the pipeline route were currently being considered, adding that each of them involved a different cost, but did not affect the length of time stated for the construction.