In the first quarter of 2008, all exports of small oil companies were sent to sea ports; they did not have access to Druzhba, Elena Korzun, CEO of the Association of Small Oil Companies Assoneft, told Vedomosti. She claims that this happened for the first time: previously, when drawing up export schedules, the Ministry of Industry and Energy took into account the preferences of enterprises. Expenses in ports are higher, Korzun points out: they have to pay port fees, as well as for tanker downtime. Deliveries of each ton of oil to the port of Novorossiysk cost oil companies $5 more than via Druzhba, complains the manager of one of the independent oil companies.

For some oil companies, such as Bogorodskneft (Samara region), access to export is completely closed, Korzun points out: the oil metering unit allows this company to supply export oil only to Druzhba.

In 2007, 63.5 million tons of oil were delivered via Druzhba. Of this, the "small" ones accounted for approximately 7%. Large volumes (more than 100,000 tons) last year were delivered by independent companies Samara-Nafta, Magma, Severnoye Siyanie, and others, says Argus Media Business Development Director Mikhail Perfilov.

Reuters analyst Alexander Ershov adds that small oil producers cannot independently assemble tanker batches of oil, so when delivering by sea, they have to look for opportunities to reload tankers that receive oil from large companies. As a result, their oil is sold at a discount, the expert notes.

The Ministry of Industry and Energy did not provide any reasons for denying access, Korzun claims. “A month ago we sent a letter to the Minister [of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko], but there has still been no response,” she says. According to her, Assoneft is going to file a complaint about the infringement of the rights of small businesses with the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

The FAS is ready to consider the complaint of oilmen and the data of the Ministry of Industry and Energy, says the head of the relevant department of the agency, Alexander Pirozhenko. If a violation of the law on natural monopolies is discovered, the service will initiate an antimonopoly investigation.

The rights of all market participants in the preparation of export schedules in the first quarter have been observed, assures a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. The focus of small companies on ports and local buyers when exporting is a traditional world practice, points out the interlocutor of Vedomosti. He did not comment on the possibility of not providing access to the pipeline for small enterprises when preparing annual export schedules (which will begin in April of this year).

It was not possible to obtain comments from a representative of Transneft (which provides the Ministry of Industry and Energy with information on the availability of free capacity when drawing up export schedules) yesterday.

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