Ukraine, Poland Seek Pipeline Progress

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Ukrainian and Polish presidents on Tuesday called for progress on getting the stalled Odessa-Brody oil pipeline up and running, saying the project could help enhance Europe's energy independence.

Odessa-Brody oil pipeline
Ukraine built the 667-kilometer (413-mile) pipeline in 2001 but it has remained largely idle because of bickering about whether to accept oil from Russia or to pump oil from Caspian Sea countries northward to Poland and on to the rest of Europe.

President Viktor Yushchenko has thrown his support behind pumping Caspian Sea oil, and recent plans have called for extending the line from the western Ukrainian town of Brody to Plotsk in Poland and, eventually, to Gdansk.

After Ukraine's dispute with Russia over gas prices earlier this year led to supply disruptions in Europe, the European Union began taking another look at its heavy dependence on Russian supplies. Poland, which receives most of its supplies from Russia, has taken a leading role in pushing for a kind of Euro-Atlantic energy security pact that would guarantee vital supplies of gas and oil. Poland has suggested the pact could encompass EU or NATO countries.

"The project Odessa-Brody and Brody-Plotsk-Gdansk could become one of the most interesting new projects in the European oil market," Yushchenko said after talks with his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski.

Kaczynski said he hoped that issues concerning extending the pipeline would be resolved within three months.

The pipeline has started generating new interest recently. Kazakhstan, which possesses the largest oil deposits in the energy-rich Caspian Sea, wants to join the project in a bid to get its oil resources to consumers in the Baltics, and Yushchenko said a deal was signed a few months ago to build a large new oil refinery in Brody.

Source: AP