Regulator proposes shipping fuel to Crimea by tanker, using Feodosia depot
SIMFEROPOL. June 23 (Interfax) - The Feodosia oil depot could be actively used to handle oil products delivered to Crimea by tankers from other regions of Russia, and this would stabilize or even lower fuel prices on the Black Sea peninsula, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) proposed.
"We need to sort out internal Russian problems regarding the arrangement of shipments of oil products [to Crimea] bypassing the infrastructure of Russian Railways (RZD) , for example, by using the infrastructure of the Feodosia oil depot and tanker shipments. The regional authorities must make every effort to reasonably ensure the operation of the Feodosia oil depot, [resolve] issues related to licensing of tanks," the head of fuel and energy sector regulation at FAS, Dmitry Makhonin said on Thursday.
"If this happens, the infrastructure [of the depot] could be used for handling oil products through tanker shipments, which would save on logistical costs and have a positive impact on the price of products at filling stations," Makhonin told reporters in Simferopol after meeting with representatives of the Crimean government, major filling station chains, oil traders and state company Chernomorneftegaz.
He estimated that the depot is currently operating at just 10% of capacity. "This is one of the biggest depots in the country, with capacity to store about 280,000 tonnes of oil products. It grieves us that this resource is not being utilized, it is being used at just 10% or even less, and there are no conditions for storing automobile gasoline," Makhonin said.
Fuel is currently shipped to Crimea via the Kerch ferry crossing. Gasoline prices at filling stations on the peninsula are higher than the Russian national average, partly due to logistics.
Makhonin also said that the margin at filling stations in Crimea is 5%-7% higher than the margin in neighboring Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region.