Baltic Pipeline System
# Baltic Pipeline System

The Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) is a Russian oil transport system operated by the oil pipeline company Transneft. The BPS transports oil from the Timan-Pechora region, West Siberia and Urals-Volga regions to Primorsk oil terminal at the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.

## History

The project started in 1997 and construction was completed in December 2001. In April 2006 the Baltic Pipeline System reached full design capacity.

## Technical features

Main elements of the BPS-1 are:

* Yaroslavl-Kirishi pipeline
* Kirishi pumping station
* Kirishi-Primorsk pipeline
* Oil terminal in Primorsk.

The capacity of the BPS-1 is 76.5 million tons of oil per year.

## Controversy

During planning and construction stages, the project was criticized by environmentalists, mainly because of the Baltic Sea's status as a particularly sensitive sea area and Primorsk’s proximity to the Beryozovye Islands nature reserve, a major bird sanctuary protected by the Ramsar Convention.

## BPS-2

The Baltic Pipeline System-2 (BPS-2) is a second trunk line of the system running from the Unecha junction of the Druzhba pipeline near the Russia-Belarus border to the Ust-Luga terminal on the Gulf of Finland with a 172 kilometres (107 mi) long branch line to the Kirishi oil refinery. The construction of the BPS-2 started on 10 June 2009 and it entered in function in late March 2012.

