LUKOIL set to boost fuel oil exports through Big Port St. Petersburg
During the 2012 summer navigation season OAO LUKOIL will change the scheme of dark oil product exports delivered by river through the Volga-Baltic canal and to nearly double the exports volume to 1 million tons, a source in the oil company told PortNews.
Currently, LUKOIL-Chernomoriye, an oil giant’s subsidiary has been implementing a project for deployment at the 5A outer anchorage off Kronstadt (Big Port St. Petersburg) of a large-capacity FSO vessel for transshipment of exported oil products delivered by 5,000dwt river tankers through inland waterways of Russia. The products are delivered from the following refineries: NORSI, Perm and Ukhta. The FSO is expected to be deployed the outer anchorage of Big Port St. Petersburg by May 20, 2012.
With the facility installation RPK Vysotsk "LUKOIL-II» will no longer handle river-sea going tankers delivering oil products on Russia's inland waterways. However, until May 20, the Vysotsk oil terminal will continue handling several river-sea tankers.
PortNews has reported that in 2011 the volume of fuel oil delivered to RPK Vysotsk by the mixed rive-sea sailing vessels totaled 532,600 tons of fuel oil (111 ship calls).
CJSC LUKOIL-Chernomoriye was created in 1994 in Novorossiysk. The company is a Qualified Operator for handling and transshipment of cargoes of LUKOIL Group's companies in sea and river ports. The company provides a broad range of services for freight forwarding, customs clearance of imports / exports and ship’s agency service.
In 2011, Russian oil product exports through the terminal RPK Vysotsk "LUKOIL II» (Leningrad region) amounted to 9,687, 600 tons (209 tankers), a nearly 20-percent drop year-over-year.