The 4,118-kilometer pipeline, which will cost an estimated 15 billion dollars, will begin at Taishet, west of Baikal, and end in a major terminal in Perevoznaya, the pipeline's developers Giprotruboprovod said.

According to one plan, the pipeline will transport up to 80 million tons of oil within the first 36 months, while another said it would reach its maximum capacity within 72 months.

Over 29,000 people will be employed in building the pipeline, company officials said.

However, environmentalists from the WWF ecology group voiced concern at the project, which could encroach on unique preserves, including the habitat of the nearly extinct Far Eastern leopard.

TERRA.WIRE