| Rosneft will build the largest transshipment terminal not only for itself Rosneft has announced its intention to build the largest oil terminal in Russia among oil-producing concerns (not counting the Transneft ports in Primorsk and Novorossiysk). The state-owned company, which produced only 19.4 million tons of raw materials in 2003, decided to build an oil export complex with a capacity of as much as 30 million tons in the Leningrad region, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is possible that Rosneft will build this terminal together with “ Surgutneftegaz". Thus, Rosneft seems to want to become an export “window to Europe” for other oil producers.
Last Friday, a commission under the government of the Leningrad region approved Rosneft’s application and decided on the location of the terminal. It will be built on the territory of the Primorsk port complex. There is already a Transneft terminal operating here, designed to pump 42 million tons of oil annually through the Baltic pipeline system. As reported by the press service of the regional committee for economics and investment, the total investment volume will exceed $400 million. Construction of the first stage of the project, worth $230 million, is expected to begin in 2005 and be completed by 2007. At this stage, the Economics Committee reported, the terminal's capacity will be 15 million tons, of which 6 million are oil, 5 million are fuel oil and 4 million are diesel fuel. The second stage will cost $170 million and assumes a doubling of transshipment volumes. The port will serve up to 500 tankers per year. Rosneft does not rule out that the entire project could be completed by 2009, and the development of the feasibility study is planned to be completed this year.
In 2002, Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz signed a memorandum of cooperation with the government of the Leningrad region. It stipulated that both companies would build an oil refinery and a terminal in Primorsk, although at that time the volume of oil transshipment was stated to be three times smaller - 10 million tons. The capacity of the oil refinery was also envisaged to be the same. However, not so long ago, the Vice-Governor of the Leningrad Region for Economics and Investment, Grigory Dvas, said that, according to his information, Surgutneftegaz may abandon this project and it will be dealt with exclusively by Rosneft. The official motivated this by the fact that Surgut intends to focus on the reconstruction of the company’s only Kirishi oil refinery, which requires $700-750 million. In addition, Surgutneftegaz has been talking about plans for ten years to build an export terminal in Batareinaya Bay 7.5 million tons of petroleum products per year. However, Mr. Dvas does not rule out that Surgut may abandon this port project as well.
The fact that Rosneft will remain the sole investor and owner of the terminal in Primorsk is supported by the fact that the port’s customer is a 100 percent subsidiary of the state company, Investstroyterminal CJSC. However, representatives of both companies assure that they have not heard of any decisions about their “divorce” on the project. “Nobody denounced the previous agreement, no changes were made to it, we see the refinery and the terminal as a single complex that both we and Surgut need,” say Rosneft. “We did not abandon what was previously signed, and we are showing interest in the construction of both facilities,” echoes Surgutneftegaz press secretary Raisa Khodchenko.
Rosneft considers the planned volume of transshipment - 30 million tons - to be completely justified. Firstly, the state-owned company, its representatives say, annually increases production by 20%, so its export needs will grow. The main source of raw materials for Primorsk will be Severnaya Neft, purchased a year ago. Secondly, the state-owned company claims: “No one will stop us from taking oil from other companies for transshipment, including from BTS, whose pipe capacity may be higher than the throughput of Transneft’s Primorsky terminal.” Thus, the state will receive extra leverage to influence private oil concerns through its company.
According to the calculations of Prospect Investment Company analyst Dmitry Tsaregorodtsev, by 2007, when the first stage of the terminal with a capacity of 15 million tons is built, Rosneft’s production will be about 35 million tons. Since the state-owned company needs to load its own refineries, the expert says, through Primorsk at the first stage Rosneft can export no more than 10 million tons of its oil. Consequently, other companies will be asked to transship at least 5 million tons per year. Victor MATVEEV, St. Petersburg |
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