Nord Stream proceeding

Gazprom has now laid pipes all the way to the border of Vyborg rayon, regional authorities in Leningrad Oblast confirm. Another 320 km of the land-based part of the pipeline now remains to be built, Oilru.com reports. That is to be completed by year 2010. The land-based part of the project totals 917 km, of which 319 km is in Vologda Oblast and 598 km in Leningrad Oblast. The pipeline is to be fuelled partly by the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea. The whole Nord Stream project is to be completed in 2011. The offshore part of the pipeline, running across the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany, is 1220 km long and will when completed have a 55 billion cubic meter capacity. Not all the Nord Stream gas will be exported. According to a recent agreement signed by Gazprom and Leningrad Oblast, also consumers in Leningrad Oblast will benefit from the pipeline. Gas from Nord Stream will reach regional consumers, a press release from Gazprom reads.