Unified trading session for oil products may be launched in early 2012
MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) - The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX), the Interregional Oil and Gas Exchange (MBNK) and the St. Petersburg Exchange may this year sign a memorandum on a unified trading session for petroleum products, SPIMEX President Alexei Rybnikov told Interfax on Thursday.
"Talks about this with the St Petersburg and MBNK exchanges are moving full-steam ahead. There is a very strong chance that we can agree and sign the corresponding documents this year," he said.
The project will then have to be implemented technically. "I think we will be able to launch the unified trading session at the beginning of next year," Rybnikov said.
Earlier, Federal Antimonopoly Service Deputy Chairman Anatoly Golomolzin said that work to establish a unified trading session was in its conclusive phase. The session was being discussed as part of reforms for petroleum product trading on the exchange, he said.
In 2010, 7.87 million tonnes of petroleum products were traded on the exchanges, with most sold via SPIMEX (61.7%, or 4.86 million tonnes), another 2.82 million tonnes (35.8%) was sold on MBNK and 194,300 tonnes (2.5%) via the St. Petersburg exchange. Sales on the SPIMEX alone have topped 10 million tonnes so far in 2011.
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