Hungary and Russia's Gazprom are in talks about extra gas for Budapest by 2025
Hungary and Russia’s Gazprom have begun negotiations for an agreement to supply additional gas next year to Budapest. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Russian news agency RIA in remarks published Tuesday. "We've already signed an additional agreement for the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. It covers additional volumes and is priced competitively. Szijjarto said to RIA that we are currently negotiating a contract for next year. Last week, the Russian energy giant announced, without giving any details, that it had signed a memorandum with Hungary regarding a possible increase of sales of Russian Gas.
Slovakia has a strong interest in ensuring transit of Russian gas and oil via Ukraine
Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said that the country has a great interest in continuing the flow of oil and gas from Russia through Ukraine to the West. He added that the European Commission was putting pressure on the country to stop these supply flows. Fico said to reporters that the Slovak government and Ukrainian cabinet would meet on Monday. Due to Ukraine's ongoing war against Russia, the central European nation faces disruptions in its key Russian energy supply. Ukraine has said that it will not renew its gas transit agreement with Russia by the end of this year.
Russia evacuates another border area amid increasing threat from Ukrainian units
After Kyiv increased its military activities near the border, just days after the biggest incursion by the Ukrainians into Russian sovereign territory since the beginning of the 2022 conflict, Russia evacuated parts in another area next to Ukraine. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border in the early hours of Tuesday morning and advanced across western parts of Russia's Kursk Region. This surprise attack may have been intended to gain leverage for possible ceasefire negotiations after the U.S. presidential election. According to Russian war bloggers…
Belarus Buys 80,000 Tonnes of U.S. Oil
Belarusian state energy company Belneftekhim said on Friday it had bought 80,000 tonnes of oil from the United States that would be delivered by tanker to the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda at the beginning of June.Belarus has said it wants to diversify its oil supplies after a dispute with Russia over oil prices earlier this year. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Jason Neely)
Belarus to Buy Two Tankers of Non-Russian Oil Per Month
Belarus will buy two tankers of non-Russian oil a month, Prime Minister Sergei Rumas was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta on Wednesday, irrespective of Belarus' agreements with Moscow on oil supply.Belarus and Russia have been locked in a dispute over oil supply and flows have slowed to a trickle since Jan. 1, while refineries in Belarus have been operating at 50% of capacity.(Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; writing by Alexander Marrow; editing by Jason Neely)
Oil Jumps After US Kills Iran's Soleimani
Oil prices jumped more than $3 on Friday after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad ordered by President Donald Trump killed the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, sparking concerns for an escalation of regional tensions and disruption to crude supplies.Brent crude rose to a peak of $69.50 a barrel, its highest since mid-September when Saudi oil facilities were attacked, and was up 3.7% or $2.43 a barrel by 1445 GMT at $68.68.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $2.17 or 3.5% at $63.35 a barrel, having earlier spiked to $64.09 a barrel…
Russia Says Nord Stream 2 Will Be Ready in Months
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be completed in a matter of months and U.S. sanctions imposed on the project last week would not be "catastrophic".Russia's new gas transit deal with Ukraine would also mollify the impact on Russian gas supplies of U.S. sanctions introduced on the pipeline project, he said.Last week a major contractor suspended work on the Nord Stream 2 project, which is led by Russia's Gazprom, due to U.S. sanctions introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.Around 160 km (100 miles) of the gas pipeline…
Klaipeda LNG in Full Capacity
Lithuania's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal Klaipėdos Nafta (KN) said that its terminal capacities are now fully booked for the rest of the Gas Year, following the favorable situation in the international gas markets that has been determining the highest operative efficiency of the LNG terminal since the launch of its activities.The Gas Year is calculated from 1 October of the current year until 30 September of the following year.According to a press note from the operator of the Klaipėda Oil Terminal based in Klaipėda, Lithuania…
MWV Expects Druzhba Shipments Within Days
German oil industry lobby group MWV expects German refineries to receive shipments of clean Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline via Belarus and Poland within the next several days, a spokesman said on Tuesday.The spokesman for the Berlin-based association (Mineraloelwirtschaftsverband), that represents 14 companies, 17 refinery sites and 10 oil pipelines, said the two most severely affected refineries, PCK Schwedt and Leuna would be receiving pipeline oil again.An influx of contaminated oil into Druzhba in April forced Russia to halt west-bound flows to customers…
Tainted Oil Set for Russian Refineries, Ports After Dilution
More than a million tonnes of contaminated oil from Russia's Druzhba ("Friendship") pipeline, expected to be shipped back from Belarus, will end up at Russian refineries and export ports after being diluted to usable levels, sources have told Reuters.The pipeline was halted in April after excessive levels of organic chloride used in oil extraction were found on the million-barrel-per-day pipeline that crosses Belarus and serves customers as far west as Germany.Pipeline operator Transneft, which denies responsibility for the contamination…
Lukoil Gets Approval for LPG Supplies to Ukraine
Russia's No.2 oil producer Lukoil has obtained approval from a Russian export control regulator on supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) such as propane and butane to Ukraine, traders said on Friday.LPG and diesel were listed as goods of dual purposes, meaning they can be used both for civil and military aims, amid Moscow's tensions with Ukraine.Only Kremlin-controlled Rosneft has the rights to export LPG to Ukraine, to the tune of around 40,000 tonnes per month. The fuel can be used in cars, household utilities or to produce electric power.Lukoil has not responded to a request for comment.According to the industry sources…
Trump Bets on New European LNG Terminals
U.S. President Donald Trump expects the European Union to fund 9 to 11 liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports to absorb "vastly" more shipments from the United States but current EU investment in new projects will only help open small markets.In a White House press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte late on Monday, Trump said part of the U.S.-EU trade talks sought to expand America's reach into the continent's gas markets which were awash in Russian supply."And we are already talking to the European Union about building anywhere from 9 to 11 ports…
Poland to Expand Oil Pipelines as it Diversifies Supplies
Poland's government approved a plan on Tuesday to build more pipelines to help Warsaw take more oil deliveries from sources other than its biggest supplier Russia. Poland imports most of the oil it refines from Russia through the eastern part of a pipeline known as "Friendship", running from the border with Belarus to a refinery in Plock, central Poland. The western part of the Friendship pipeline connects Plock with the German town Schwedt. Plock is also connected to the port of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea, where Poland has its second refinery and which is also taking increasing volumes of oil from oversees as it strives to reduce reliance on Russian supplies.
Transneft Says Belarus Q2 Oil Supply Schedule Signed
Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Thursday that a schedule for additional oil supplies to Belarus for the second quarter had been signed. According to the schedule, Russia will supply 6 million tonnes of oil to Belarus in the second quarter and 7 million tonnes in each of third and fourth quarters. The schedule was signed off after Belarus agreed to pay its debt for natural gas purchases in full. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by David Evans)
Gazprom Says Belarus Paid $726 mln Gas Debt
Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Thursday that Belarus has paid off in full a debt of $726.2 million for gas deliveries in 2016 and 2017. The debt was paid off after the presidents of Russia and Belarus earlier this month resolved all their disputes over energy. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin)
Belarus to Russia $720 mln in Gas Debts
Belarus has agreed to pay Russian gas firm Gazprom more than $720 million in arrears for gas supplies, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Monday. Dvorkovich added that Russia was renewing oil supplies to Belarus of 24 million tonnes a year and that Gazprom would give Belarus discounts on gas supplies in 2018 and 2019. Earlier on Monday, the Russian and Belarussian presidents said they had resolved all the disputes between them over energy. Reporting by Denis Pinchuk
Belarus says Russia Made Oil Threat
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday a Russian move to create border zones near his country's frontier looked like a political attack and that Moscow had threatened to halve oil supplies to Minsk. Speaking at a marathon news conference which lasted over seven hours, Lukashenko said he sensed Russia was afraid his country, a long-time ally, would move too far out of Moscow's orbit. "Russia has become wary that Belarus could turn to the West," said Lukashenko. Relations between Russia and Belarus have soured since Lukashenko criticised Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, saying he believed it set a bad precedent.
Russia to Cut Oil Exports Outside FSU by 380,000 T in Q1
Russia will cut oil exports to foreign markets outside the former Soviet Union (FSU) by 380,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2017 from the fourth quarter of 2016, oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday. However, overall supply, which includes non-Russian oil transit from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as well as deliveries to Belarus, will increase by 200,000 barrels per day, as reported last week. Oil exports to countries outside the FSU will total 50.98 million tonnes in January-March, down from 51.36 million tonnes planned for the fourth quarter, Transneft said.
Russia to Add 0.2 mln t of Urals From Baltic Ports in Oct
Russia plans to export an additional 200,000 tonnes of Urals crude oil from its Baltic ports in October, compared with an original plan for the month, with shipments reaching 7.7 million tonnes, traders said. According to market sources, Tatneft will load an additional cargo from Primorsk on Oct. 14-15, and Lukoil will load an extra 100,000 tonnes of Urals from Ust-Luga later in the month. According to two trading sources, Tatneft might have diverted the volumes set for Germany to Ust-Luga after Belarus announced a 50 percent increase in its transit tariff earlier in October, which will affect margins for Druzhba oil exporters. (Reporting by Olga Yagova)
Russian Minister Says Oil Supplies to Belarus Hinge on Gas Debt Payment
Russia may raise its crude oil supplies to Belarus if Minsk meets its obligations on natural gas, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Friday in a reference to Belarus's debt for the fuel. Since the start of this month, Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has been pumping about 40 percent less oil to Belarus than in the second quarter of this year. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; writing by Dmitry Solovyov)
