The decision came following a cabinet agreement to open the pipeline for shipments of Russian oil, reversing an earlier decision that limited the pipeline solely to Europe-bound oil shipments from the Caspian Sea region. The draft agreement between Ukrtransnafta and TNK-BP foresees annual shipment of around 9 million tons of Russian crude from the border town of Brody to the Black Sea port of Odessa for shipment to southern Europe during the next three years, Ukrtransnafta said in a statement. The company has also set up a joint venture with Polish oil company Przyjazn to extend Ukraine's existing pipeline nearly 500km to the Polish town of Plotsk, at a possible project cost of around $500 million. Ukraine built the 665-kmpipeline linking the Black Sea port of Odessa with Brody in western Ukraine in 2001, but it has remained largely idle amid discussions over whether to accept Russian or Caspian oil. Exporters of oil from Russia's Ural Mountain region have lobbied Kiev for months to allow their lower-grade oil to flow in reverse, from Brody to Odessa. Such a decision would enable them to take advantage of high oil price to increase exports to southern Europe and potentially disarm competition from Caspian suppliers. The United States has strongly opposed sending Russian oil from Brody to Odessa, saying it will increase Ukraine's dependence on energy from Moscow and increase chances of an oil spill, as more oil tankers travel from the Black Sea through Turkey's increasingly-congested Bosporus Strait.