Pipeline from Sea of Okhotsk completed

PRIGORODNOYE, Russia, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A 496-mile Russian oil and gas pipeline from the Sea of Okhotsk to Prigorodnoye is online and has begun operations, an energy company official said.

Marina Makarova, manager in charge of the pipeline at Sakhalin Energy Co., said the pipeline, which began filling with gas and oil Thursday, is scheduled to receive its first tanker for shipment by the end of the year, ITAR-TASS reported.

Within a month, it should be pumping oil from offshore deposits in the Sea of Okhotsk to Prigorodnoye, located on the Mereya River, the report said.