IMAGE: Eugeny Samarin / RIA Novosti
A public conflict between Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft and oil producer Rosneft has been developing since the contaminated oil crisis in the Russian Druzhba export pipeline which took place in April.
On July 8, Transneft claimed that Rosneft had allegedly made mistakes in quality controls and made unsubstantiated damages claims. According to the Transneft version, Rosneft was unwilling to participate in resolving the Druzhba export pipeline contaminated oil crisis. Rosneft denounced the Transneft version of the event saying that it had read the statement with “regret” and “bewilderment”.
The public confrontation regardng the quality of Russian oil continued in August and early September.
In late August, Gerhard Schroder, the former Chancellor of Germany and the chairman of the board of of Rosneft, proposed to create the institute of independent inspectors to monitor the quality of Russian oil, as well as reduce the standards for the content of organochlorine in it. Schroder came with this proposal to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Under the plan, surveys should be carried out to check the quality of oil in Transneft pipelines.
Transneft’s spokesman Igor Demin commented on this idea by saying that Transneft could agree on this proposal if all expenses are taken by oil producers. He also speculated that Rosneft provides wrong data to its chairman of the board. This developed into a further scandal involving heads of the companies: Rosneft’s Igor Sechin and Transneft’s Nikolai Tokarev. Sechin demanded from Transneft an appology for an vexed language of its spokesman. Tokarev rejected the demands saying that it’s Rosneft, the side that should make an appology for its public stance.
Russian sources say that Sechin and Tokarev have a long-standing conflict over some personal issues. Furhermore, the companies have repeatedly clashed over a number of issues competing in their sphere of interests and for the government funding.
The situation with the Druzhba export pipeline demonstrated that the increasing rift between the companies is becoming an obstracle for key Russian oil export questions.
This is another indication of the increasing standoff between various power groups within the Russian leadership. This conflict in the public sphere comes amid the softening control on the internal political situation from President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle during the past few years.
