Russian Justice Ministry registers order to hike rate for transporting diesel via South pipeline system by 9.5%
MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) - Russia's Justice Ministry on Wednesday registered a Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) order to approve a 9.5% increase in rates for transporting diesel fuel along the South trunk pipeline system to the Novorossiysk seaport.
The approved document calls for increasing the price of pipeline monopoly Transneft's services to transport oil products through trunk pipelines along the route from Tinguta Station (receiving from rail tank cars at PSP GPS Tinguta pump station) to the Novorossiysk seaport (Sheskharis Terminal) from 2,003.32 rubles per tonne to 2,194.04 rubles (before VAT), the official website for legal information said.
The new rate will apply to Rosneft , Lukoil , Gazprom Neft , Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, Orsknefteorgsintez and Transneft .
The rate for Transneft services provided to Lukoil to transport oil products along the route from the PSP Volgograd station (receiving from Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka LLC) to the Novorossiysk seaport (Sheskharis Terminal) will go up from 2,203.39 rubles per tonne to 2,413.15 rubles.
The FAS said earlier that the law allows the long-term rate for oil product transport services from Tinguta station to Novorossiysk to be raised by no more than the rate of inflation. The regulator said this is intended to take into account the company's operating costs. Furthermore, regular maintenance of oil product pipelines makes it possible to reduce the burden on railways.
As part of the South project, Transneft in 2017 completed the construction of the Volgograd-Tikhoretsk trunk oil product pipeline, as well as measures to develop the pipeline system on the Tikhoretsk-Novorossiysk section, making it possible to deliver up to 6 million tonnes of diesel fuel per year by pipeline to the seaport from Russian oil refineries.
In 2018, construction was completed on a tank car receiving rack at the Tinguta initial injection station, making it possible to receive up to 2 million tonnes of diesel per year from refineries not connected to Transneft's trunk pipeline system for subsequent transport to Novorossiysk.
The third phase of the South project, the Samara-Volgograd pipeline, was postponed due to lack of demand. However, at the end of last year Transneft said it planned to begin implementing the third phase in 2025 to increase diesel shipments through Novorossiysk and reduce the burden on railway infrastructure. This will involve building the 750 km Samara-Volgograd oil product pipeline with capacity to carry 5.2 million tonnes per year and the expansion of pipeline capacity on the Volgograd-Novorossiysk section at an estimated cost of 120 billion rubles.
Transneft's rates for transporting crude oil and oil products through other trunk pipeline systems were raised by an average of 9.9% as of January 1, 2025.
