Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr. 1 / corr Trend E.Ismayilov /
Sarmatia pipeline company has announced a tender to select a contractor designing a feasibility study and a report on environmental impact of construction of the [Brody-Plotzk] oil pipeline, connecting the Polish and Ukrainian oil transportation system, Sarmatia CEO Sergey Skripka told Trend over a telephone.
The tender will be held in two stages. In the first stage to last by Apr. 12 the potential participants are to submit their application for participation in the tender. Only five participant companies will be selected, and offered to develop their bids on the basis of technical tasks. The second stage will launch approximately on Apr. 16. The tender procedure is expected to complete by mid-May 2010.
The contractor is to have an experience in developing similar projects, which are financed by the EU and environmental impact reports.
According to Skripka, both companies and consortiums are invited to participate in the tender. "More likely, it will not be single companies, because specter of tasks is wide enough. The companies will have to unite to cope with requirements set for them," Skripka underscored.
Skripka said earlier that the Brody-Adamova is regarded as prospective routes for building. However, final decision on the route is still to be made. "There is not approved route [...], there are only several points, which can be joined," he added. The feasibility study could finally define the route.
The project on construction of the Brody-Plock (Brody-Adamova gates) connecting the Polish and Ukrainian oil transportation system, which is part of the Eurasian oil transport corridor, is included in an operating program of the European Union, "Infrastructure and Environment" as priority project.
About 495 million zlotys (about 120 million euros) was allocated to this project under the Infrastructure and Environment program. The IPC must fulfill several conditions to obtain this funding (of course, it is part-funding). Some of these conditions are reflected in the preliminary contract, which the company had signed earlier with the Krakow Oil and Gas Institute operating as the coordinator of the program. The Institute has been monitoring fulfillment of these conditions. Based on the preliminary agreement, the company will have a number of additional studies to clarify the route and develop a detailed feasibility study for construction of the pipeline.
Sarmatia selected a juridical consultant (a Polish company) on March 15, which will serve the company under the work related to fulfilling terms of preliminary contract on financing from the EU funds.
Previously, a feasibility study of oil transportation corridor was prepared.
It will be possible to talk about the beginning of construction after the goals set in the preliminary contract reached. However, the construction should be completed no later than 2014, and this is a strict requirement of the Infrastructure and Environment program.
The Odessa-Brody oil project plans to diversify oil supplies to Ukrainian refineries and transit facilities for the country's development. The construction of Odessa-Brody was completed in May 2002. The pipeline has a length of 674 kilometers and a diameter of 1,020 millimeters. The pipeline and the terminal's capacity are 9-14 million tons per year.
Azerbaijan plays a major role in the Odessa-Brody- Plotts-Gdansk. However, Azerbaijan can work as a transit country and supply not only its own oil via the pipeline, but also oil from Central Asia, for instance from Kazakhstan.
Work within the project is carried out by the Sarmatia international oil pipeline company, which was founded in 2004. Company participants are SOCAR, the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, the Lithuanian Klaipedos Oil, the Polish PERN Pshiyazn and the Ukrainian Ukrtransnafta.