Russia May Give Transneft Control of All Oil Intake Terminals

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Russia may transfer the running of oil intake terminals to state-owned pipeline company Transneft, according to a government website, after a privately-owned terminal was blamed earlier this year for contaminating oil supplies.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will ask the government to consider the move, the website said, after Medvedev met Transneft Chief Executive Nikolai Tokarev on Monday.

Most of Russia’s oil intake terminals - hubs that receive oil from fields before it is moved into Transneft’s pipeline network - are controlled by private firms or oil companies.

Tokarev told Medvedev that handing the running of the intake points to Transneft would prevent a repeat of the contamination crisis that hit Russian exports in April, according to a transcript of their meeting on the website.

Prosecutors have accused a small oil transport firm of pumping toxic chemicals via a private oil terminal into Russia’s crude pipeline network that then polluted oil exports to Europe. The crisis led to the suspension of flows through the Druzhba pipeline and hit Russia’s reputation as a supplier.

It has also led to tensions between Transneft, the world’s biggest oil pipeline network operator, and Russian oil companies, particularly over quality controls.

Tokarev told Medvedev that chemical laboratories handling analysis of oil received at the intake points should be certified and accredited by regulatory authorities, according to the transcript.

He also said Transneft was continuing talks on compensation for customers who received tainted oil, large volumes of which remain in Russia as the company works to improve its quality.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com