Putin inks Baltic pipeline plan

MOSCOW, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The Russian government signed an agreement to move forward with the design and construction of a second artery of the Baltic Pipeline System, around Belarus.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree to build a second 800-mile line for the Baltic Pipeline System, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday. The second route is a rival to the Druzhba oil pipeline to the European Union.

Following a dispute between Russia and Belarus over oil deliveries and transit duties, the Russian pipeline firm Transneft proposed the artery in January 2007. Russia temporarily closed the Druzhba pipeline, the world's longest, following the dispute.

Transneft operates the BPS transport system from West Siberia to the Primorsk oil terminal at the Gulf of Finland.

The second stage will have a capacity of 1 million barrels of oil per day, with initial transports expected to reach 600,000 barrels by 2012.