OREANDA-NEWS. December 29, 2010. The law enforcement authorities apprehended members of a criminal group attempting to steal crude oil from the CPC mainline oil pipeline using an illegal tap and a branch line earlier installed at KP 692 of the pipeline system.

The apprehension was carried out by officers of FSB and the Economic Crime Division of the Astrakhan Region Police Department supported by special police force troops of the Crime Investigation Police.

The value of crude oil the perpetrators attempted to steal is tentatively estimated at RUR 320k. CPC’s total damages, including losses resulting from pipeline downtime to remove the illegal tap, are being estimated.

At the time the arrests were made, there was a 5-6 cum of crude oil spill to the ground from the illegal branch line. CPC and emergency response contractor personnel took prompt action to clean up the oil spill and to mitigate environmental impact on the terrain. The oil spill was collected. The oily soil was taken out to a special dump site for reclamation. The costs of these activities will also be added to the total estimated damages inflicted by the thieves.

The integrity of the mainline pipeline is fully back to normal. The incident has had not effect on export oil shipments through the CPC pipeline system which is provided with adequate tank capacities.

The successful apprehension of the perpetrators on the crime scene became possible through close cooperation between CPC's security function and law-enforcement agencies along the entire route of the CPC pipeline in Kazakhstan and Russia.

CPC intends to continue improving and pro-actively using the entire set of technical and organizational capabilities available to prevent illegal taps and to ensure safe operation of the pipeline.