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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a
meeting with government ministers in Moscow's Kremlin. He orders the
government on Tuesday to consider cutting the country's oil production
amid a trade dispute over oil with Belarus. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo)
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MOSCOW, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- President Vladimir Putin
ordered the government on Tuesday to consider cutting the country's oil
production amid a trade dispute over oil with Belarus, and a government minister
said Russia is seeking alternative routes for its crude exports to Europe that
bypass the eastern neighbor.
Russia and Belarus have been at loggerheads over the
transit of Russian crude oil through Belarus to western Europe. Transit
shipments along the Druzhba pipeline were halted over the weekend, affecting
Poland, Germany and Hungary.
Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko,
quoted by the Interfax news agency, confirmed on Tuesday that Russian pipeline
operator Transneft, which accused Belarus of siphoning off Russian oil meant for
consumers in western Europe, stopped pumping oil to the pipeline Monday morning.
Putin instructed the government "to discuss with
Russian companies the possibility of reducing oil production in connection with
the problems emerging in the transportation of oil via Belarus," the Itar-Tass
news agency reported.
Russia provides about a quarter of the oil and gas
consumed in the European Union (EU), some of which is piped through Belarus,
mainly to Poland, Germany and Lithuania. EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs
said on Monday the disruption of Russian oil flow posed "no immediate risk" to
energy supplies in the bloc.
"Everything necessary should be done to secure the
interests of Western consumers" of Russian oil, Putin was quoted as saying at a
cabinet meeting.
He asked government officials to continue talks with
Belarus to resolve the dispute.
A Belarussian government delegation led by Deputy
Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov arrived in Moscow earlier on Tuesday for talks
with Russian officials.
Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref
said after a meeting with Kobyakov that Russia will start negotiations with
Belarus only after Minsk lifts a new customs duty on Russian oil piped through
Belarus, which came after Moscow imposed export duties on crude oil supplied to
Belarus at the start of the year.
Meanwhile, the government, Transneft and the state
railways company are looking for routes for Russian oil exports to Europe that
bypass Belarus, Gref was quoted by Interfax as saying.
The row over oil followed a dispute over natural gas
supplies between the two countries. After tense negotiations that dragged on
until New Year's Eve, Belarus agreed to pay more than double the previous price
for Russian gas supplies this year.
Under a deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom, Belarus
would buy Russian gas at 100 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in 2007. The
country bought gas from Gazprom at 46.7 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters last
year.
Belarus halts Russian oil flow to
Europe
MOSCOW, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Transit shipments of Russian
oil supplies to Poland, Germany and Ukraine through Belarus were stopped over
the weekend, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, but the European Union
(EU) said the bloc faced "no immediate risk" of energy shortage.
The Druzhba pipeline "is not pumping oil in the direction
of Poland, Germany and Ukraine under orders from Belneftekhim," a spokesman for
Belarus' pipeline operator Belneftekhim was quoted as saying.
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