Mazeikiu Pipeline's Future in Doubt

[CHIMO]

Russia could be forced to close down the pipeline that feeds the Mazeikiu refinery in Lithuania because it is more than 40 years old and constructed with banned metals, said Semyon Vainshtok, the president of pipeline monopoly Transneft.

Transneft halted supplies to the refinery following an oil spill along the Druzhba-1 route two weeks ago. Refineries in Belarus along the pipeline route are still being fed. But Mazeikiu has been left high and dry after a pressure cut was enforced in the wake of the accident, starving the refinery of revenue just weeks after it was bought by Polish energy company PKN Orlen.

In his first public comments since the spill, Vainshtok said Transneft could be forced to shut down the pipeline altogether, pending the outcome of an investigation. "This could happen," he said in an interview at Transneft's sleek Moscow headquarters on Monday.

"You understand that the lifespan of a pipeline according to industry norms is 30 years. Druzhba-1 is 42. ... It is made out of metals that are now forbidden," he said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/08/16/001.html

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. What does one do with over 2500 miles of old pipeline?

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.
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made out of forbidden materials no less?

From the article:

Transneft has already laid the first 175 kilometers of the 4,100-kilometer pipeline east from Surgut to Skvorodino in the Far East and intends to finish construction on schedule by the end of 2008.

FYI

for those math curious

a kilometer equals .625 miles

[harlinchi]

2. Sounds like someone learned the US corporate way...

...which is to make the deal then reveal the downside! Kinda reminds me of a day-care facility in NJ which was established on the grounds of what was once a thermometer factory. For some reason, the grounds contain high levels of mercury! Who would've thunk it!

I wonder if PKN Orlen knew the age of the pipelines prior to the purchase.