Page 91 - RusRPTMay19

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Russia's oil pipeline operator Transneft launched a criminal investigation into possible deliberate contamination of oil in Russia’s Druzhba pipeline to Europe, the company said on April 26. Reportedly, the suspect company is the privately owned SamaraTransNeft-Terminal, part of the PetroNeft group that operates a joint of the pipeline responsible for the contamination. The quality of Russian Urals blend supplied to Europe has been questioned before, but the most recent dive in the quality led to many refineries in Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary refusing the supplied crude, while Kyiv and Minsk were quick to calculate losses from the botched supplies. Russian officials, in the meantime, urged that the problem not be politicize and tried to downplay the issue as merely a technical problem. NowTransneft claims that oil was contaminated with a chlorine-containing solution and pointed the finger at the obscure operator SamaraTransNeft-Terminal. The representatives of the company told RBC business portal that the company sold the pipeline link in question back in 2017. Sources of Vedomosti and Kommersant dailies claim that four small suppliers could have injected low quality oil in the pipeline, but said there is no doubt that Transneft is responsible for the quality in the pipeline.
For the first time, Gazprom allowed the possibility of delaying the construction of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline , reports TASS on April 30 with reference to Alexander Ivannikov, head of the Gazprom department. According to him, the company maintains plans to complete construction this year, but is exploring possible options for the development of the situation with Denmark. Ivannikov added that a project in any scenario would be economically viable. “Even if we assume that there will be a delay, the project will remain profitable, because the life cycle of such projects is 25-30 years or more. Therefore, any delay in terms, even if they are, it will not affect the economy of the project, it will still remain profitable, ”he stressed.
Russian gas giant Gazprom is preparing legal action against Danish regulators that delay the issue of construction permits for pipeline Nord Stream 2, Kommersant daily reported on April 29 citing sources close to the company. At the end of March, the Danish regulatory authority mentioned that it did not plan to examine the previous two Nord Stream 2 route applications until the company had considered an alternative route in the waters south of Bornholm. In the meantime, the EU Council approved a European gas directive on April 15 that is expected to delay commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas line – and potentially leave it half empty.
President Putin has announced that the Chinese government would like to increase the capacity of the Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline by 6bcm, Kommersant reports. Under the current contract, the max capacity from the Amur GPP is 38bcmpa, set to be reached in 2025, according to the company's guidance. The increase implies a 15% increase in export volumes to China (relative to the max level) and is thus positive for Gazprom. The additional capex needed to effect the increase will be limited to increasing pumping pressure and expanding capacity of the Amur GPP. That said, we
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