As reported on these pages on the occasion of Vladimir Putin's visit to Australia in 2007, Russia sees a big future in Asian Pacific trade. Putin spoke of this at the 2007 APEC meeting in Sydney, but the detail and implications of his words were not widely considered in the Australian media. The best record was the New Zealand Herald report.. Putin has followed through on those undertakings, with the shipping of the first crude from the new oil terminus at Kozmino, near Nakhodka on the Pacific coast. At present, oil arrives at Kozmino via a new 2694 km pipeline and a 2100km rail line. When the last section of pipeline is complete in about two years time, the system will be capable of delivering 1.6 million barrels a day to China and other Pacific nations. This confirms Russia's new status as the world's biggest energy exporter.

 

 

 

The emerging Eurasian bloc headed by China and Russia will be the world's major economic grouping - and soon! The SCO already includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as full members, and observer states India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan may be promoted to full membership at the next meeting in Russia. In terms of population, resources and manufacturing capacity, the SCO is now the world's largest economic entity. Big Island Gazette has been following the development of the SCO for some time. See our reports here.