Kyodo News reported today that the company responsible for operating the Kozmino port of Russia’s Far Eastern Nakhodka suburbs announced on the 28th that in 2010, crude oil exported from the port totaled 15.3 million tons, of which crude oil exported to Japan accounted for 30% in all countries and regions. The middle ranks first.

In second place is South Korea, where 29% of the country’s crude oil exports are exported. The third place is the United States, which accounts for 16% of the country’s crude oil exports, ranking fourth in China’s Taiwan. The proportion is 11%. China ranks only fifth, and the proportion of crude oil exported from the port is only 8%.

Russia's Kozymina Oil Port is the eastern terminal of the East Siberian-Pacific oil pipeline and is the exclusive port for crude oil exports. Since the end of December 2009, it has begun exporting crude oil to Asia-Pacific countries.

Boris Melnikov, general manager of Kozymina Oil Port, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the crude oil exports of Kozymina Oil Port in 2012 will double to 30 million tons. He said: "According to the design plan, a second terminal, pipeline and oil-receiving site will be completed by the end of 2011 or early 2012." He said that the construction progress of the second-phase construction project of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Oil Pipeline is already ahead of schedule. It is possible that the Skoroodino-Kozimino extension will be delivered in advance.

Melnikov pointed out that after these facilities are completed, the port can export 30 million tons of oil annually. Subsequently, the construction of the third terminal began, and the output of the port could reach 50 million tons after completion.

It is understood that Japan’s crude oil imports from the Kozymina Oil Port have surged since June of this year, surpassing Korea, which had previously been ranked first.