Petroleum product supplies from Russia to Baltic ports may be redirected
MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - The surplus of capacity at Ust-Luga, Primorsk and Novorossiysk means that petroleum products that are currently shipped to ports in the Baltic States could be redirected, Transneft president Nikolai Tokarev said.
He said that public opinion was already leaning towards changing the situation with the supply of petroleum products to the Baltic ports, Riga and Ventspils. "From Russia, 13.5 million tonnes of diesel fuel is transported there. But from the point of view of common sense and state expediency, due to the surplus of capacity in Ust-Luga, Primorsk and Novorossiysk, the time has come to redirect these flows," he said during an interview with the Pipeline Transport of Oil corporate journal.
"We will prepare proposals for the government on this matter because we are sure that it is necessary ship to domestic ports in the first place," Tokarev said.
He said that already this year Transneft is adapting an oil pipeline for pumping petroleum products, and the Kirishi Oil Refinery will supply a sufficiently large volume to Primorsk via this pipeline. Capacity at the St. Petersburg commercial port and in Ust-Luga will thereby be freed up. "And we will be able to utilize this capacity with volumes that are now going to Ventspils," the company head said.
"In the future, we are planning to more intensively expand the northern direction, because the reconstruction of oil refineries will be completed in a year or two. Correspondingly, the amount of diesel fuel is being increased on the domestic market as well as for export. The depth of refining will be increased. And we will be completely ready for this," he said.
