BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
25/01/2011
Russia, Belarus set to end oil row on Tuesday
By Gleb Gorodyankin
MOSCOW, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russia is set to resume Russian oil supplies to Minsk by the end of Tuesday, ending a price row which has left Belarus without oil since the start of 2011, oil pipeline monopoly Transneft (TRNF_p.MM: Quote) said.
"We know that the completion of the signing of contracts (on oil deliveries) is ongoing," Igor Dyomin, a Transneft spokesman, told Reuters.
"We will start deliveries as soon as we get a legal basis."
Moscow and Minsk have agreed on a oil price formula, trading sources told Reuters, saying Russia will supply around 350,000-400,000 tons of oil in January, or a quarter of the usual monthly delivery volumes.
Belarus stopped receiving Russian Urals crude deliveries for its refineries on Jan. 1 amid disagreements over oil tariffs and pricing. Its stocks had been due to run out by the end of the month. [ID:nLDE70N05L]
Dyomin and traders did not disclose the new price parameters.
Market sources told Reuters earlier that Russian firms wanted a $45 per tonne price rise as Belarus will increase transit tariffs by 12.5 percent from Feb. 1.
"The conditions for Russian companies would not be worse," one trader said, without elaboration.
Russia, among the world's top oil and gas producers, has had regular energy price disputes with neighbours Ukraine and Belarus, which control main transit routes to Europe since the Soviet Union collapsed. In the past, such disputes have affected onward supplies to Europe.
(Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Jason Neely)
Source:
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE70O11P20110125
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