Government slaps new export duties on oil

The Russian government has slapped higher export duties on oil companies, effective from November. According to a government resolution on new oil tariffs, refined oil will attract $57 per ton, while crude oil will attract $45.4 per ton. The move is largely seen as an official measure to stem the increasing price of petrol in the country and also to cut a share from private companies’ mounting profits due to sky-high prices on the international oil markets.

LUKoil’s oil transit through Poland in jeopardy

LUKoil has said it cannot full its contract agreement on oil transit through Poland due to Transneft’s failure to include it in the transit schedule for the fourth quarter of 2004. "Despite the fact the LUKoil has an ongoing oil-transit contract with Pern and Nafta Port and has sent the required application to Transneft, LUKoil, for some unknown reasons, has not been allocated a timetable to pump its oil through the Gdansk Port," the company said.

Mezhregiongaz to pay 8.1 billion rubles in tax arrears

Mezhregiongaz, a Gazprom subsidiary, has completely met all its obligations, paying all its outstanding tax arrears estimated at 8.1 billion rubles. And, according to legal requirements, the Tax Ministry’s Interregional Taxation Inspectorate has written off the outstanding 5.45 billion rubles, the sum of penalties accrued by the company for delaying tax payments.

Gazprom to supply United States with gas

Gazprom plans to supply gas to the United States effective from 2009, according to a memorandum signed by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Petro Canada President Ron Brennemen. The project carries a tentative price tag of $2 billion, out of which about $1.2-1.5 billion will be invested in building a plant for producing liquefied natural gas, while another $500 million will be spent on building gas infrastructure in Canada.

TNK-BP increases oil production by 14 percent

TNK-BP’s volume of oil production from its 40 oil wells in the Khanty Mansiisk Autonomous Region increased to 33.74 million tons in the first nine months of 2004, or 13.6 percent higher than last year’s figures for the same period. The gross volume of natural gas increased by 22 percent to 611.67 million cubic meters.

Rosneft to build a $3 billion terminal at Dikson Port

Rosneft plans to attract foreign investments to build a $3 billion terminal at Dixon, Port which is expected to have a traffic capacity of over 1 million tons of oil per month. The state-owned oil company, soon to merge with Gazprom, also plans to build a 750 kilometer pipeline to link up oil facilities in the Taimyr Penisula.