YUKOS holds talks with Chinese companies

The Russian oil major YUKOS is negotiating long-term oil supplies with a number of Chinese companies, Mikhail Brudno, Acting President of YUKOS RM, the company's refining and sales unit, announced. "We hope that by the end of May the government will approve the energy strategy, which will clear up the situation with controlling the (Angarsk-Daqing) pipeline," he said. The Russian government has long been discussing a number of alternatives for the project, which, when completed, could boost Russia's east-bound oil exports by 20-30 million tons a year.

The alternatives are to build the pipeline from the Eastern Siberian city of Angarsk to the Chinese city of Daqing or to the Far Eastern port of Nakhodka. The third option is to build the Angarsk-Nakhodka pipeline with a link leading to Daqing. YUKOS, which is expected to be the key exporter under the project, has been supporting the Daqing route, the Russia Journal reported.

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