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Belarusian-Ukrainian agreement on oil transit to be signed this week

A Belarusian-Ukrainian interstate agreement on oil transit is expected to be signed before the end of the week, said the press office of the Ukrainian fuel and energy ministry, BelaPAN reports.

“The Belarusian side has expressed an interest in the establishment of cooperation regarding oil deliveries to Belarusian oil refineries with the use of the oil pipeline system and railroads of Ukraine and Belarus,” the press office said.

Ukraine has sufficient technical capacity for accepting crude in the country’s Black Sea ports, transshipping it and delivering it to Belarus by rail and pipeline, the press office said, noting that Belarus expected oil deliveries to total up to four million tons in the period between May 1, 2010 and April 2011 and then to increase to 10 million tons a year.

The signing of the agreement will meet the interests of both countries, the press office said.

A contract was signed in Caracas on March 17 for Venezuela to supply up to four million tons of oil to Belarus before the end of the year.

Venezuelan crude for Belarus is currently delivered by tankers to Ukraine’s Odessa seaport and then brought by rail to the oil refinery in Mazyr, Homyel region. Three 80,000-ton shipments have already been brought by tankers to the Odessa port.

Although the first tankers laden with Venezuelan oil have already arrived, it is necessary to work faster for the Venezuelan oil deliveries to total four million tons this year, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said during a June 28 government conference. The deliveries should increase to 10 million tons in 2011, he said, adding that talks were also underway with other oil-producing countries.

An agreement has been reached for a total of 10 million tons of crude oil to be supplied to Belarus in 2011, Venezuelan Ambassador Americo Diaz Nunez told reporters in Minsk on June 30. It is up to the Belarusian government to decide to which seaport Venezuelan oil shipments should be delivered, he noted.

The ambassador refused to say how much Venezuelan oil costs Belarus. “This is a commercial secret that will eventually be brought into the open,” he said.

“Oil deliveries on favorable conditions are a gesture of solidarity and support for the Belarusian people,” he added.