Russian Ministry of Energy doubts in the necessity of sale standards

The debate about mandatory sale of oil and gas on the exchange has come to a new circle - according to the Kommersant’s information, the Ministry of Energy doesn’t sign the pre-agreed with the FAS joint draft order. Rosneft actively advocated against the document in terms of oil, and Novatek in terms of gas. Thus, the over two-year disputes will continue, unless the issue is submitted to Vladimir Putin's level.

The Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is unlikely to sign a joint draft order with the Federal Antimonopoly Service on the compulsory sale of oil and gas on the stock exchange in the current edition, several sources familiar with the situation told the Kommersant. As it was repeatedly stated by the FAS heads, the document was previously agreed upon with the Ministry of Energy, signed by the Service and sent to the Ministry in April. According to the draft order, the standard of the mandatory sales of oil on the stock exchange is 5% of the production for the major oil companies, gas - 6% of the volume, supplied to the pipe, for Gazprom and 10% - for independent producers (Novatek and Rosneft). The Energy Ministry didn’t officially confirm such agreement. The Departments argued about the volume of the standards for several years, and now the Ministry wants to reconcile the figures again - at least for crude oil, the Kommersant’s sources say. Yesterday, the FAS didn’t comment on the course of the negotiation, the Energy Ministry said that "the document is in the works".