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Soviet Union [USSR] PIPELINES
Although oil pipelines were first laid in Baku in 1872, the use
of pipelines to move liquids and gas over long distances was
essentially a post-World War II development, with most use
occurring since 1970. In 1988 about 95 percent of crude oil and
over 20 percent of refined petroleum products, as well as nearly
100 percent of natural gas, were shipped by pipeline. In 1986
almost 653 million tons originated of crude oil and refined
petroleum products were transported by a large-diameter pipeline
network of 81,500 kilometers. About 616 billion cubic meters of
natural gas entered the 185,000-kilometer gas pipeline system in
1986. Other products shipped by pipelines included chemicals,
petrochemicals, salts, coal, ores, and construction minerals.
The main oil pipelines were relatively new and of large
diameter--1,020 and 1,220 millimeters. About 65 percent of the oil
pipelines, however, were of medium diameter--530 and 820
millimeters or smaller. They linked oilfields with refineries, and
in turn the refineries were linked with main user areas or export
outlets, such as the port of Ventspils on the Baltic or the towns
of Brest (near the border with Poland) and Uzhgorod (near the
borders with Czechoslovakia and Hungary).
The major gas pipelines ran from the principal natural gas
producing regions of Central Asia, western Siberia (twelve largediameter lines), and the Volga-Ural, Baku, and North Caucasus
regions to major domestic and foreign industrial zones
(see
fig. 22). Natural gas pipelines were of 1,420 millimeter, 1,220
millimeter, 1,020 millimeter, and smaller diameters, the latter
representing just over half the total length.
Among the better known pipelines were the Northern Lights line
from the Komi petroleum deposit to Brest on the Polish border, the
Soiuz line running from Orenburg to Uzhgorod near the Czechoslovak
and Hungarian borders, and the Export pipeline from the Urengoy gas
field to L'vov and thence to West European countries, including
Austria, Italy, West Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The 1,420-millimeter Export pipeline was 4,451 kilometers long. It
crossed the Ural and Carpathian mountains and almost 600 rivers,
including the Ob', Volga, Don, and Dnepr. It had 41 compressor
stations and a yearly capacity of 32 billion cubic meters of
natural gas.
Data as of May 1989
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