12/22/2007

Mercuria calls on Poland to clarify Gdansk terms

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Trader Mercuria, a top importer of Russian crude to Poland, on Thursday called on the Polish pipeline firm PERN to clarify terms of shipments to the port of Gdansk, warning the market about uncertainty of supplies.

Russia ships crude to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline and supplies Polish refineries as well as the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk from where oil is re-exported to other European markets.

Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft's export schedule for the first quarter of next year showed this week that shipments via Gdansk will fall to 1.03 million tonnes from a record schedule of 2.10 million tonnes in the fourth quarter.

"Although the end of the year approaches, for the first time ever at this time of the year, we still do not have clarity on terms for throughput of oil from the Polish state pipeline company PERN for 2008," Mercuria's vice-president David Ensor told Reuters.

"The situation is causing market uncertainty. As a result, exports for the first quarter of next year through the port of Gdansk cannot be currently predicted," he added.

"Producers and trading companies are looking for efficiency, stability and reliability... for clear, straightforward and predictable rules for oil transit," he added.

He declined to specify the exact nature of terms that Mercuria was seeking to be clarified.

PERN's spokesman Krzysztof Zalewski declined to comment: "We don't comment on these kinds of talks or deal terms," he said.

The export schedule showed that in the first quarter of 2008 Gdansk will receive 850,000 tonnes from Kazakhstan's producers via Russia, while Russia itself will supply only 180,000 tonnes, all of them coming from oil firm TNK-BP TNBPI.RTS.

This will be a serious reduction compared to the fourth quarter of this year when TNK-BP supplied much bigger volumes and had oil firm Bashneft as a second supplier.

Mercuria grew out of east European specialist J+S, which has been the top importer of Russian crude to Poland since the early 1990s. Some Russian companies have been seeking direct deals with Poland to bypass the intermediary, while others say they are happy with the prices the trader is charging.

Russian crude is supplied via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs across the territories of Belarus and also crosses Poland to end up in Germany.

The schedule also showed shipments to Poland's refineries will rise to 4.92 million tonnes in the first quarter from 4.60 million in the previous quarter with oil majors Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Surgut (SNGS.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and TNK-BP TNBPI.RTS being the main suppliers.

Source: By Dmitry Zhdannikov; James Jukwey

reuters.com



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