KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Kiev signed a two-year agreement with a Belarusian oil company for guaranteed supplies of oil through the Odessa-Brody pipeline, an energy official said.
The 419-mile pipeline had been operated toward Russia following supply concerns. Russian oil is delivered to the Odessa-Brody pipeline from a junction of the Druzhba pipeline, the longest in the world.
Kiev said it was examining alternative suppliers to help shuttle oil through the pipeline in its intended direction.
Ukrtransnafta and the Belarusian Oil Co. signed a two-year agreement to guarantee shipments through Odessa-Brody.
"We are pleased with the work we started," the National News Agency of Ukraine quoted Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Boiko as saying.
Ukrainian energy company Ukrtransnafta said it anticipates more than 570,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil at the Odessa port. The oil was purchased by Belarus and is to be transported by rail to Ukrainian terminals.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in November that a deal with Venezuela means his country can pull back on the amount of oil it gets from Russia.
