Pipeliners

29/12/2006 - RZD News - Russia will pump at least 9 million tons of crude to Europe via the Brody-Odessa pipeline in 2007, twice as much as this year, as the country steps up exports to sustain economic growth. "We may even increase the volume of Russian oil up to 12 million tons,'' Ihor Kiryushyn, chief executive officer of UkrTrasNafta, operator of Ukraine's pipeline, said Thursday in an e-mailed statement, reports The Moscow Times, referring to Bloomberg.

29 December 2006 – Upstream onLine – Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said today its net profit under international accounting standards increased 24% in the first nine months of 2006 to 50.89 billion roubles ($1.93 billion). The pipeline operator said its sales increased 12.4% to 147.10 billion roubles in the period, while operational costs rose 7.2% to 80.91 billion roubles. Transneft's revenues heavily depend on oil shipping fees, which are capped by the government and increase once or twice a year to adjust for inflation. Transneft also said its net profit increased 4.4% to 15 billion roubles in the third quarter of this year, while sales rose by 10.6% to 49.93 billion roubles compared with the third quarter of 2005, Reuters reported.

SHANGHAI, December 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russian oil companies, large or small, will be given equal access to export pipelines, a senior energy official said Thursday. Vadim Rybin, head of the Federal Energy Agency's oil industry department, said: "We want the export channels divided equally, even if each company exports just one bucket of oil in any one direction." He said the government will introduce a scheme aimed at providing small and medium-sized businesses with the same export opportunities as those enjoyed by their larger counterparts, and that an ad hoc group formed with officials from his agency, as well as the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, the Energy and Industries Ministry, and state-run pipeline monopoly Transneft, is now preparing enabling legislation to translate the new concept into reality. However, the architects of the project do not want to put a timeframe on it, Rybin said. "The task is a big one, and we will take our time so as not to spoil things."

RBC, 01.12.2006, NIzhnekamsk 19:28:27.A decision to hand over Russia' share in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to Transneft will probably be made at the end of the year, Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Andrei Dementyev said today. The Russian State Agency for Property discussed the formal details of this deal on Thursday, and reached a decision in principle.