Oil consumption expected to be stable in Russia

Over the next 5 to 10 years the domestic oil consumption is forecasted to be at about 100m tons per year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko declared at a news conference after a meeting of Transneft shareholders. "This rate has been pretty stable lately and there are no serious reasons to expect it to change over the next 5 to 10 years", the deputy PM stressed.

Responding to journalists' question on increasing Russian oil exports, he admitted that there was a shortage of state oil transportation facilities. However, there are alternative ways of transporting oil, including the Caspian Pipeline System, railroad transportation and others, he stressed. There are no restrictions on what means of oil transportation to use, he added.