THE 112-km main leg of Russia’s Kovytka-Sayansk-Irkutsk gas pipeline will be completed in June 2007, according to an official from the East Siberian Gas Co. Construction is being undertaken BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP. The pipeline will feed gas distribution networks suppling domestic and industrial consumers in East Siberia.
TNK-BP sees Kovytka, the region's largest gas deposit with 2tr cum of reserves, as a potential supplier of gas to China. However, the development for export has been held up for years due to opposition from the Russian government and from Gazprom, which holds a monopoly on Russian gas exports. The East Siberian Gas Co is a joint venture between TNK-BP and the Irkutsk regional administration.