Transneft sees Russia 09 oil output no less than 08

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Wednesday, 26 August 2009

Russian oil output this year will not be less than that of 2008, the head of the country's pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday, adding that the BTS-2 pipeline project could be finished early. "It is quite absolutely clear that the volume of oil output will remain no lower than last year's levels," Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev said. "There is every reason to say this, people in the oil sector will confirm it."
Russian oil output fell by about one percent in 2008 to 488 million tonnes, the first decline in a decade.
Tokarev told reporters that that the BTS-2 pipeline could be completed six months ahead of schedule, in the first quarter of 2012 rather than the third quarter.
Construction of the pipeline, which would bring oil to ports on the Baltic Sea, began in June of this year. It is intended to ease Russia's dependence on transporting oil through pipelines running across Belarus, Ukraine and Poland.
But analysts have warned that the new route may force Russia to divert oil from other outlets, which are also vital for Russia to fill. For an analysis on BTS-2 see.
Source: Reuters