Rosneft says it has commenced transportation of oil products by river transport in the navigation season of 2017. The company’s tankers were the first to pass the Kochetkovsky gate – the official opening of the navigation in the Azov-Don Basin. The first batch of 3,800 t of fuel was shipped from the Saratov Refinery to port Kavkaz for further exports. Within a couple of weeks, as the ice situation is improved, the company is going to start shipments of oil products from the terminals of the Samara Group of Refineries.
Over 150 river tankers and barges of Rosneft and PrimeShipping are deployed for the transportation (assets of PrimeShipping were acquired in 2015).
River transport is involved in conventional transportation of heavy fuel oil, petroleum fuel, diesel fuel and bunker fuel of the Samara Group (Kuibyshev, Novokuibyshev and Syzran Refineries. In 2017, the company will also arrange river transportation of oil products from the Ufa Group of Refineries.
All in all, the navigation season of 2017 is expected to see transportation of over 4 mln t of dark and light oil products for further exports and bunkering of vessels at the ports of the Russian Federation.
The navigation season is expected to last till the end of November, like in the year of 2016.
The Russian Joint Venture between Rosneft, Sberbank Investments and Pietro Barbaro S.p.A. closed the acquisition of the Pietro Barbaro Group shipping assets in the Russian Federation (100% share of Prime Shipping group of companies) on 1 September 2015.
In 2016, river fleet operated by the company carried over 4 mln t of different oil products.