Domestic market supplied with fuel, govt prepared to take measures if prices on external market grow - Energy Ministry on export ban

ASTANA. March 25 (Interfax) - The Russian fuel market is fully provided for at the moment, but the government is prepared to take measures if prices on the external market jump up, which could happen very quickly, Russia's First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin told journalists, commenting on the discussion on re-enforcing the gasoline export ban.

"In the Energy Ministry, and in the government, we are monitoring the situation constantly, with the aim of fully providing the domestic market with petroleum products and, correspondingly, preventing sudden price hikes or price growth above inflation at gas stations. I can now say that the market is fully supplied, fully provided for - there are no disruptions," he said.

"But considering the high volatility of the international market, we are monitoring this constantly, almost daily. If additional measures should be needed, we have a set of measures which can be used in order to keep the market saturated, so that no difficult situations await us," Sorokin said.

He said the situation had much to do with geopolitics. "Therefore, if anything changes, which could happen very quickly, we are ready to take these measures. The task, if the global situation changes, is to prevent gasoline and diesel from leaving the Russian market through various 'gray' schemes. Clearly, the foreign market may be more attractive; this has already happened over the past few years. But we will not allow this, and the domestic market is the priority," he said.

Russia needs to take prompt measures to provide the domestic market with fuel amid the global energy crisis, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said during an Energy Ministry board meeting on Wednesday. Sources told Interfax later that the Russian authorities were discussing re-imposing the ban on gasoline exports for producers, which was lifted a month early in February.