BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/01/2010

Transneft threatens oil cuts to Belarus

MOSCOW, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Russian state-owned pipeline operator Transneft said it might cut oil supplies to Belarus during the weekend as talks collapse over export duties.

The governments of Belarus and Russia are sparring over duties for Russian oil that Minsk exports back to European customers through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

Igor Demin, a spokesman for Transneft, told the Interfax news agency that if negotiations don't move forward, his company would cut oil supplies to Belarus.

"There are practically no more confirmed orders from the Mozyr refinery" in Belarus, he said. "Therefore, if the situation doesn't change today and there are no more orders, then there will be nothing to pump by the end of the week."

Officials from Minsk left the negotiation table in Moscow during the weekend without an agreement for 2010 in hand. Oil authorities in Belarus told Interfax the government was waiting for official measures at the government level.

Moscow said it would offer concessions to Belarus, but not for the oil it exports to Eastern Europe. Belarus, for its part, wants imports to be duty free.

Europe gets about 10 percent of its oil from the Druzhba pipeline. A spokesman from the European government said Brussels expects both sides to meet their transit obligations.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/01/14/Transneft-threatens-oil-cuts-to-Belarus/UPI-71121263490200/


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