Kazakhstan disagrees with the proposed increase in the tariff for the transportation of oil through the territory of Belarus and plans to negotiate with Minsk, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan announced.
"The Kazakh side disagrees with the idea of raising the oil transportation tariff (by 43%) through the territory of Belarus and considers it necessary to conduct corresponding negotiations on this issue with the Ministry of Economy of Belarus and the concern 'Belneftekhim'," the comment stated.
The Ministry of Kazakhstan reminded that an agreement was reached at the end of 2022 between Kazakhstan, Germany, and Russia on the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Transneft system, up to 1.2 million tons per year via the "Druzhba" system towards the Schwedt refinery in Germany.
"At present, Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed on the technical possibility of transportation along this route (through the Druzhba oil pipeline towards Germany) in 2024 in the previous volumes - up to 1.2 million tons per year," the statement said.
The transportation of Kazakh oil through the "Druzhba" system towards Germany passes through the territories of Russia, Belarus, and Poland.
The tariff from the Kazakhstan-Russia border to the point "Adamova Zastava" is 1,583.706 rubles per ton ($17.66 per ton): within Russia - 1,127.766 rubles per ton; within Belarus - 455.94 rubles per ton.
The Ministry noted that in the case of an increase in the cost of transportation through the territory of Belarus by 43.4%, Kazakhstan's losses could amount to about $2.64 million when transporting 1.2 million tons of Kazakh oil along this route.
Earlier, it was reported that the operator of the Belarusian oil transportation system, "Gomeltransneft Druzhba," proposed to "Transneft" in November to raise transit oil tariffs through its territory from February 1, 2024, as reported by "Kommersant." For the northern branch of the "Druzhba" oil pipeline, which currently transports only Kazakh oil, Minsk proposes to increase the tariff by 43%, and for the southern branch, through which supplies from Russia continue, by 14.5%.
This is necessary to eliminate cross-financing of expenses for transportation along the northern branch at the expense of pumping through the southern one, explained the Belarusian side. According to the newspaper, the letter from "Gomeltransneft Druzhba" speaks of "unforeseen circumstances" that led to a fivefold reduction in cargo turnover on transit routes compared to 2022, including a 17-fold decrease at Adamovo. This refers to Poland and Germany refusing to accept Russian oil amid sanctions. Currently, only Kazakh crude is transported to Europe through the northern branch of "Druzhba," with a forecast volume of 1.2 million tons for this year.
In the summer of 2023, OJSC "Gomeltransneft Druzhba" notified OAO "Transneft" of its intention to increase tariffs by 1.8 times.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 19, 2023