HispanicBusiness

Russia's 4,740-kilometre-long East Asia oil pipeline went officially into service on Tuesday, with the completion of an about 2,000-kilometre section between the Siberian city of Skovorodino and the Pacific port of Kosmino, Russian media reported.

The pipeline, which currently carries 30 million tonnes of oil per year, set to raise its output to 50 million tonnes.

Before the pipeline's completion, 15 million tonnes of oil was transported by tanker to Kosmino. Another 15 million tonnes of oil flows yearly through a junction to the Chinese city of Daqing.

In a dispute with the European Union over commodity prices, Russia has repeated a threat to increase its supply to markets in the East. The largest consumers of Eastern Siberian oil in 2012 were Japan, China and the United States. Russian oil was also shipped to the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.