Tatneft Seeks to Cut Contract Costs

(Moscow Times ) - Tatneft said Friday that it was seeking cheaper services from contractors building its Nizhnekamsk refinery after the Tatarstan-based oil producer canceled two agreements last week.

"In light of today's conditions, we think we should get a better price," said Vladlen Voskoboinikov, director of international financial reporting. The plant's financing is not in jeopardy, he said.

Tatneft terminated $1.2 billion worth of orders for the refinery's hydrotreating and aromatics units with Maire Tecnimont and GS Engineering & Construction, the companies said in statements Thursday. The cancellations will have no adverse effect on the project, Voskoboinikov said.

The Nizhnekamsk plant, Russia's first major oil refinery since the Soviet era, will have a capacity of 140,000 barrels of crude per day. Russia's three biggest oil producers have upgraded Soviet refineries to boost refining capacity.

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