Russia resumes oil exports to Europe

Jan 11, 2007, 11:50 GMT

Moscow/Minsk - Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft resumed pumping oil to Europe around midnight Thursday.

After several days of interruption, Belarusian pipeline operator Gomeltransneft resumed transmission to Poland, Germany, the Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, Interfax news service reported.

Oil was measured flowing through the pipeline in Ukraine at full force around midnight, Ukrainian officials said.

No official confirmation had been received from Russia, and Prime Minister Sergei Sidorskiy said the details would be clarified later Thursday.

Belarus' cabinet repealed an oil tariff Wednesday that led to the standoff with Moscow and the stoppage of oil transit, which left a number of European countries without Russian oil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday, and the Cabinet in Minsk repealed the 45-dollar per ton tariff shortly afterward. Details of the conversation have not been made public.

The tariff's repeal also brought Russia closer to negotiations with Belarus at which Minsk hopes to get Russia to repeal its own tariff on gas exported into Belarus.

'We are satisfied with the decision of the Belarusian (cabinet). Preparations are under way in the ministry, and, I hope, we will be able to begin discussions on all types of trade relations this evening,' Russian Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said in remarks carried by Interfax Wednesday.

Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky also said he was planning to fly to Moscow for talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on Thursday.

The Druzhba pipeline was stopped Monday morning by Gomeltransneft after Russia balked at the now-repealed tariff. Moscow then cut the flow of Druzhba - Russian for 'friendship - on its end as well.

The pipeline, which pumps 80 million tons of oil into Europe each year, is one of the continent's biggest sources of the fuel. Russia supplies Europe with 200 million tons of oil per year, roughly a quarter of Europe's needs.

Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine have all either been cut off entirely from the flow or saw reduced delivery volumes as a result of the dispute.

While European reserves have protected consumers against serious oil shortages, the disagreement has caused the EU to once again question Russia's reliability as an energy partner.

Russia cut off natural gas supplies to the Ukraine amid a pricing dispute just over a year ago, and many in the EU worry the source of a third of their gas and a quarter of their oil needs may hold those supplies hostage in order to settle political disputes.