| Sibneft presented yesterday its electronic trading system for oil and petroleum products, NefteBid. According to the developers’ plans, oil from not only Sibneft, but also other companies, can pass through the “electronic oil broker.” True, Russian oil companies are not yet in a hurry to declare their readiness to use NefteBid’s services: the press services of the largest companies talk about the need to study the operation of the system from a commercial point of view.
For now, the platform is focused on trading petroleum products exported through the ports of the Baltic Sea. But in the future, the system developers are confident, it will be possible to trade through the ports of Novorossiysk, Ventspils, as well as Tallinn and Tuapse.
According to NefteBid executive director Alexey Kornienkov, the electronic platform began operating last Thursday and has already sold about 30 thousand tons of Sibneft fuel oil. There are six companies operating in the system, with at least five more expected in the next two months. NefteBid has only one competitor in the world, says Mr. Kornienkov: the international platform Platts Direct. NefteBid has set a commission of 7 cents per ton virtually sold - this is 3.5 times lower than brokers who trade oil and petroleum products in reality.
Analysts assess NefteBid differently. Konstantin Reznikov from Alfa Bank believes that trading in petroleum products is attractive, since oil companies have significant free volumes and difficulties with sales. Electronic oil trading, in his opinion, is not very promising: companies have already established direct deliveries and do not need intermediaries. Perhaps in the future, when oil trading begins on the domestic market, says Mr. Reznikov, the platform will help increase the liquidity of raw materials (i.e., eliminate the imbalance in domestic and external oil prices).
According to an analyst who wished to remain anonymous, NefteBid has a future only if it can attract the world's largest or Russian companies to conclude deals. Among the domestic ones, in his opinion, these could be companies that traditionally export oil products through the Baltic ports: YUKOS and Surgutneftegaz. They did not express their position yesterday. Nikolay GORELOV
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