Ukraine plans to build more pipelines to break Russia’s grip on fuel

Published: Sunday, 19 June, 2005, 09:37 AM Doha Time
By Halia Pavliva and Eduard Gismatullin

LONDON/KIEV: Ukraine, a former Soviet state that depends on Russia for 80% of its energy needs, plans to build new oil and gas pipelines to secure supplies from the Caspian Sea and Iran and counter Russia’s fuel grip.

Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukraine’s state-owned natural-gas company, is seeking Gaz de France SA’s help in planning a pipeline from Iran.[...]
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The pipeline from Iran would cross Armenia and Georgia and pass under the Black Sea to Ukraine and may be extended to Europe, Dmitry Marunich, a spokesman for Naftogaz, said this week. The project may need an $18bn investment, he said, citing industry analysts’ estimates[...].
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Ukraine is examining plans to extend its $500mn pipeline, which runs from the port the Black Sea of Odessa to the Ukrainian town of Brody, further north to the Baltic Sea. The Odessa-Brody link was built by Ukraine in 2001 to compete for the business of hauling Caspian oil. [...].
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Chevron, the second-largest US oil company, may use the Odessa-Brody pipeline to Europe to bypass the Turkish straits[...].
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Ukraine serves as a gateway for most of Gazprom’s supplies to Europe, the biggest consumer of Russian gas.
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.