SINGAPORE — For a long time, energy-hungry Asia has watched in frustration as Russia, currently the world's biggest producer of both oil and natural gas, sent nearly all its exports to former Soviet bloc partners and Europe, leaving Asian consumers increasingly dependent on imports from the Middle East.
However, this will change over the next few years as a growing volume of Russian oil heads for Asia via a newly opened terminal at Kozmino on the Pacific Ocean. A pipeline, due to be completed by 2014, will link the port to oil-rich East Siberia, nearly 5,000 kilometers inland, eventually raising the export flow to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd).
Indeed, with Russian shipments to Asia already starting to rise to significant levels, Middle East suppliers face a growing challenge in a market where in coming decades most of the growth in global oil demand is expected to occur, led by China and India.