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Russia plans more U.S. oil exports
MOSCOW, Russia -- The biggest oil companies in Russia are joining forces to build a multi-billion dollar terminal in a move to boost exports to the United States and lessen its dependency on Middle East supplies. Four companies -- LUKOIL, YUKOS, Tyumen Oil and Sibneft -- said on Wednesday they plan to construct the terminal at an ice-free Arctic port in the Barents Sea at the northeastern town of Murmansk. The project is expected to cost $1.5 billion and be completed by 2007. It will include a 1,500-kilometre (935-mile) link between Murmansk and Russia's existing pipeline network. The terminal at Murmansk, once a major naval base in the former Soviet Union, will have the capacity to ship one million barrels of oil a day. "Russian firms could supply up to 13 percent of the United States' total crude oil imports by 2010,'' the four firms said in a statement. Russia -- the world's second biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia -- currently produces eight million barrels a day, more than half of which comes from the four companies involved in the new terminal venture. However, less than one percent of Russian oil now reaches the U.S. -- the world's biggest oil consumer -- with most of its exports going to Europe. Russia is looking for new export markets outside of Europe as oil production increased steadily for the past four years, while domestic consumption remains flat. The U.S., meanwhile, wants to widen its sources of oil to avoid any shortfalls that might be caused by political unrest in the Middle East and other turbulent regions. Wednesday's announcement comes just days after U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to work closer on energy issues, especially as the United States considers possible military action against oil-rich Iraq. But the U.S. is unlikely to benefit from plans to increase Russian export in time to compensate for a cut in imports in the aftermath of an attack on Iraq. "It's naive to think that if that happened Russia could somehow save us," The Wall Street Journal quoted a U.S. official as saying.
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