Excerpt from Russian Petroleum Investor by Inna Gaiduk
| Russian pipeline giant Transneft has lobbied federal agencies for permission to increase its transit rates by about 21 percent for 2009, officials said. The state-owned pipeline company raised its shipping fees twice in 2008, by 19.4 percent in January and again in August by 10.7 percent. |
Transneft says transit fees are the only means for the pipeline firm to generate revenue for new projects and maintenance for its massive infrastructure. The oil companies have also received proposals from the monopoly: on average, Transneft services will rise in price by 16.2 percent.
Oil majors in Russia have voiced their opposition to the request, saying the collapsing energy market is already burdening the sector. Foreign assets are also difficult to obtain, as the world credit markets are relatively frozen.
The Federal Tariff Service (FTS) approved a 15.7 percent hike in Transneft’s oil pumping tariff effective January 1, Interfax reported. According to an FTS spokesman, if Transneft cuts its investment program, the tariff hike decision could be revised.
According to analyst Natalia Milchakova from financial corporation Otkrytiye, “Transneft will have to build the BTS-2 pipeline, since the government is unlikely to back out of this big project despite the economic crisis. Therefore, a lowering of the tariff is unlikely. A new tariff hike from Transneft is also not likely in 2009.”
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