Pipeliners

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."