SPIMEX launches oil product trading with Transneft as delivery operator
MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) has launched trading of oil products with oil pipeline monopoly Transneft acting as operator for commodity deliveries, SPIMEX president Alexei Rybnikov said at a press conference at Interfax.
The operator of commodity deliveries conducts, controls and keeps track of deliveries in exchange trading, ensuring the storage of the commodity and guaranteeing its transfer to the buyer. Transneft will enable the purchase of oil products at SPIMEX delivery locations with the possibility of truck loading: line operations dispatcher station (LODS) Volodarskaya, LODS Voronezh, loading depot Nikolskoye, loading depot Bryansk, LODS Cherkassy, LODS Krasny Bor and LODS Belgorod.
There are plans to further expand these locations across the country. The size of the lot for operating at these locations through Transneft is 10 tonnes, while the standard lot in the SPIMEX Oil Products section is 60 tonnes. This will make it possible to conduct small wholesale transactions using the new exchange instrument.
"We have done an excellent project, a lot of groundwork for future development, foremost of the oil product market. Transneft is the first infrastructure company to receive the status of commodity delivery operator. I hope that this is not the last such company [...]," Rybnikov said.
Transneft deputy vice president and director of transport, tracking and quality of oil products, Vladimir Nazarov said that it took 18 months to get the project up and running, during which the company created a software system for exchanging information with counterparties and the exchange to simplify work with customers as much as possible.
"We managed to reduce the trading threshold from 100 tonnes of oil products to 10 tonnes. We essentially went into the segment of trading by tanker truck. This is a big achievement for the development of exchange trading on the ground," Nazarov said.
The deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Anatoly Golomolzin said the project will make it possible to qualitatively change the market of exchange trading of oil products in Russia.
"Trading is moving from trading on the basis of one oil refinery to a basis where many oil refineries will compete. In addition, we're expanding the circle of participating buyers; it will not only be large wholesale players, but also small wholesale, the opportunity to participate in trading arises for independent filling stations, which will not have to use the services of intermediaries," Golomolzin said.