Russian Majors to Cut Exports During Repairs

Russia's top oil firms have pledged to cut exports of refined products or build up stocks during refinery repairs if there is a risk of a domestic market shortage, the anti-monopoly service said on Wednesday.

"We wanted some clarifications as to what firms will do during repairs. They pledged to meet domestic market needs, including by cutting exports if needed," the head of the regulator's energy department, Alexander Pirozhenko, said.

"It is just a verbal pledge. There are no documents signed whatsoever. There are no volumes or dates either," he told Reuters.

The service has no means to control oil flows and punish the firms for higher exports. It has been long seeking a bigger role of coordinating refinery maintenance to prevent price spikes on the domestic market.

Russian refineries had a peak maintenance period in April and have mostly resumed full runs from May.

The service said it had discussions with all major producers and refiners, including Rosneft, LUKOIL, Surgut, TNK-BP and Gazprom Neft

Source: Reuters 

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