BP PLC's (BP) Russian joint venture TNK-BP Ltd. plans to double shipments of the new ESPO crude to the Asia-Pacific region next year and hopes to send more crude to U.S. refiners, company executives said in an interview.

TNK-BP will next year send 10% of its total exports to the Pacific coast, up from 5% at present, Jonathan Kollek, TNK-BP's senior vice president for sales, trading and logistics, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

Russia 's third biggest oil producer currently exports close to 500,000 barrels a day, of which around 25,000 barrels of ESPO crude from its Verkhnochonskoye field in East Siberia are sent to the port of Kozmino on the Pacific coast. But eastbound volumes are expected to double next year.

"This is a very substantial injection of new crude into the Asia-Pacific market," said Kollek.

Russia 's new medium, sweet ESPO crude, which last year made its way to China , Japan and South Korea , has gained fast acceptance in Eastern Asia as a substitute for some Middle Eastern grades.

TNK-BP, owned by BP and a group of Russian billionaires on a 50-50 basis, has also sent shipments of ESPO across the Pacific to U.S. refineries and hopes the crude will become more popular as production from Alaska 's North Slope declines.

"Californian refiners that are build around running North Slope are looking for similar types grades," said Graham Sharp, senior vice president for international trading at TNK-BP.

The ESPO crude, which is similar to the Persian Gulf crude, was at first discounted by refiners, but is now trading at a premium.

TNK-BP's Kollek expects that premium will continue to grow into next year, as refiners get more used to the new crude. The price will also get a boost as ESPO volumes from Russia 's No. 1 oil producer OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) will be send directly to the Chinese border via a new branch pipeline from Jan. 1.

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