RUSSIA CUTS OIL EXPORTS TO GERMANY BY ONE THIRD
August 26th, 2007Via: International Herald Tribune:
Russian oil supplies to Germany have dropped by as much as one-third in recent weeks, Russian and German officials said Friday, sharply pinching supplies at two major German refineries.
The Russian oil-pipeline monopoly, Transneft, blamed most of the drop on the Russian oil giant Lukoil. Oil traders suggested it was yet another attempt by Lukoil to obtain better terms from Germany’s monopoly importer of Russian crude, Sunimex.
Russia in January cut crude supplies to Europe following a pricing dispute with Belarus, which halted transit shipments along the Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline to Poland and Germany. One fifth of German supplies arrive via Druzhba.
But traders and analysts said Friday that the most recent development was not overtly political, but linked instead to a trading dispute involving Lukoil and Sunimex, which handles the oil arriving via Druzhba.
