| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
PKN Orlen Strikes an Oil Supply Deal with Rosneft
Poland’s PKN Orlen is to buy 3.36 million tons of oil from Rosneft annually in the first Russian oil export deal since 2005. Experts say that the contract may insure the Poles against political risks which have been recently demonstrated in recent oil supply cuts to Europe during the conflict with Belarus.
The Polish company announced the $6 billion deal with the Petraco Oil Company oil trader Thursday. The contract is to be valid up to the end of 2011 as PNK Orlen will be buying 3.36 million metric tons of oil from Russia’s Rosneft every year. Rosneft reported to Kommersant that the oil will straight to Poland bypassing Lithuania’s Mazeikiu Nafta.
Rosneft and PNK have already cooperated through Petraco on one-year basis. Analysts note that a five-year contract is rare in the oil industry. “Yearly contracts make it possible to reflect fundamental changes in the current situation on Russian oil market,” says Alexander Ershov, head of Argus Media’s Moscow office. A long-term contract, however, gives guarantees of long-terms supplies to a consumer, Mikhail Perfilov from Fearnleys underscores. European companies were seeking the same kind of contracts two years ago when the faltering oil giant YUKOS was on the verge of bankruptcy on its oil export contracts.
The year 2006 demonstrated Russia’s stringent stance on fuel shipments as Moscow halted the gas supply to Ukraine in January. Russian oil risks became clear this year as the Russian-Belarusian oil contract which made Russian cut the supply through the Druzhba pipeline to Belarus from January 8 to 11 left Western customers without oil.
Polish PKN has chosen a state-owned company hoping that it would be able of influence the situation in Russian from within. Rosneft is also a gainer as it will have long-term guarantees for supplies in the lucrative part of the market.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 19, 2007
|
|
|
