Lukashenka to buy oil on terms of Moscow

Belarusian oil refineries signed oil import contracts for January on the conditions offered by Russian companies, which means a price bonus of $6.3 per barrel, or $46 per tonne.

Interfax-Zapad news agency learnt this on Tuesday from an oil market player.

“In accordance with protocols to the contract, Russian suppliers are to deliver oil to Belarusian refineries with a price bonus of $6.3 per barrel, or $46 per tonne,” the source said.

The base reference price of oil supplies to Belarus is calculated on a basis of the world price excluding export duties and transportation fees, he noted.

According to him, the parties have also agreed upon price formula and volume of deliveries for February.

He stressed that the arranged conditions of Russian oil supplies show unwilling of Russian companies to deliver crude oil to Belarusian refineries on a give-and-take basis.

“Russian companies won’t give oil to be processed at Belarusian refineries. It’s clear for them now that they profit more from selling oil than from refining it on a give-and-take basis,” the expert said.

As it has been reported earlier, Russian oil companies may resume oil flows to Belarus by late Tuesday.

Belneftekhim concern confirmed signing the contracts.

On January 25, 2011, Russian duty-free oil has not been supplied to Belarus in spite of signed and ratified agreements on the Common Economic Space. A few days before the end of 2010, Moscow and Minsk launched negotiations on a price formula for duty-free oil for Belarus in 2011. In the course of negotiations, the Russian party suggested that additional $45 per tonne should be included in the duty-free oil price, which will allow reaching equal income of delivering oil and petroleum products.

Belarus is to transfer to the Russian budget export duties on petroleum products produced from Russian oil. As of now, the duties on light oil products and dark oil products are 67% and 47% of the export oil duty respectively.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin said in Moscow last Thursday following talks with Belarusian PM Mikhail Myasnikovich that Russia would provide Belarus with subsidies worth $4.1bn by delivering Russian oil to the country. According to Putin, the size of the subsidy in the oil sector in 2011 will be no less than the subsidy in 2007-2009, before export duties had been imposed.