Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Circumpolar Death Match: "An Arctic fight is raging between Russia’s two biggest oil companies"

Sorry, may have gotten a bit carried away with the headline.

From the Barents Observer:
State oil producer Rosneft is challenging private company Lukoil’s control over the Varandey terminal.

The terminal located on the remote Arctic coast of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug has turned into the center of a court brawl between the two Russian oil majors.

The object is owned by Lukoil and used primarily for export of the company’s oil produced in the nearby Nenets tundra. However, since 2016, Rosneft has controlled two regional oil fields that deliver their production to the terminal. Since then, conflict between the parts has aggravated.
The fields of Trebs and Titov produce about 2 million tons of oil per year and are owned by Bashneft-Polyus, a joint venture controlled 75,1 percent by Rosneft. The remaining 24,9 percent is owned by Lukoil.

Rates for Varandey terminal amount to $38 per ton of oil. That is too much, Rosneft says and demands a reduction to only $12-13 per ton, RBC reports.
In October 2018, Rosneft took its case to the Federal Antomonopoly Service and soon won support for its stance.

That was met by a harsh reaction from Lukoil. In an interview, company leader Vagit Alekperov made clear that he intends to take the case to «a victorious end» in court. On 10th April, the company appealed the decision by the Antomonopoly Service in court....
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