By Olga Tomashevskaya
MINSK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus failed on Saturday to agree a new oil supply deal, the Belarussian government said, in a development that has revived fears of supply cutoffs to parts of Europe and pushed up prices.
'The Russian side has de facto ignored arguments and calculations presented by the Belarussian side,' the Belarussian government said in a statement.
It said its delegation had left Moscow but added that both sides had confirmed their readiness to continue talks. Russian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Hopes that the two countries could agree a new deal got a boost on Friday when Belarus sent its highest delegation so far to Moscow, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko.
Talks repeatedly have broken down over the New Year period, resulting in a brief interruption of supplies to Belarussian refineries.
Europe, mindful of a dispute in 2007 that cut around a million barrels per day of Russian oil supplies via Belarus, is keen for the ex-Soviet states to resolve their differences.
The latest dispute, which centres on the tariffs Belarus must pay for Russian oil, has yet to affect supplies to Europe, but it was a contributing factor to oil's push this week to a 15-month high above $83 a barrel.
Russia repeatedly has clashed with ex-Soviet states over energy pricing, prompting politicians from the European Union and the United States to accuse the Kremlin of using its energy might to bring its neighbours to heel.
Russia says its aim is to bring energy prices and transit fees into line with the market after subsidising its neighbours for many years under preferential terms. Much of its oil and gas must cross Ukraine and Belarus to reach Europe.
Russia allowed Belarus to import around 20 million tonnes of oil last year at only 35.6 percent of the prevailing crude export tariff. Russia has said Belarus now may buy only 6 million tonnes of Russian oil, for domestic purposes, duty free.
While Minsk argues all Russian oil should be duty free, Moscow wants payment in full for about 14.5 million tonnes a year of crude that is mostly refined and re-exported.
Germany and Poland would be the worst affected should the dispute affect transit supplies to Europe. Germany last year received 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude via the Druzhba pipeline, or just under 15 percent of its total consumption.
Refineries belonging to Total, Shell and BP are among the biggest buyers of crude from Druzhba.
(Reporting by Olga Tomashevskaya, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Editing by Michael Roddy) Keywords: BELARUS RUSSIA/OIL (dmitri.zhdannikov@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: dmitri.zhdannikov.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
MINSK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus failed on Saturday to agree a new oil supply deal, the Belarussian government said, in a development that has revived fears of supply cutoffs to parts of Europe and pushed up prices.
'The Russian side has de facto ignored arguments and calculations presented by the Belarussian side,' the Belarussian government said in a statement.
It said its delegation had left Moscow but added that both sides had confirmed their readiness to continue talks. Russian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Hopes that the two countries could agree a new deal got a boost on Friday when Belarus sent its highest delegation so far to Moscow, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko.
Talks repeatedly have broken down over the New Year period, resulting in a brief interruption of supplies to Belarussian refineries.
Europe, mindful of a dispute in 2007 that cut around a million barrels per day of Russian oil supplies via Belarus, is keen for the ex-Soviet states to resolve their differences.
The latest dispute, which centres on the tariffs Belarus must pay for Russian oil, has yet to affect supplies to Europe, but it was a contributing factor to oil's push this week to a 15-month high above $83 a barrel.
Russia repeatedly has clashed with ex-Soviet states over energy pricing, prompting politicians from the European Union and the United States to accuse the Kremlin of using its energy might to bring its neighbours to heel.
Russia says its aim is to bring energy prices and transit fees into line with the market after subsidising its neighbours for many years under preferential terms. Much of its oil and gas must cross Ukraine and Belarus to reach Europe.
Russia allowed Belarus to import around 20 million tonnes of oil last year at only 35.6 percent of the prevailing crude export tariff. Russia has said Belarus now may buy only 6 million tonnes of Russian oil, for domestic purposes, duty free.
While Minsk argues all Russian oil should be duty free, Moscow wants payment in full for about 14.5 million tonnes a year of crude that is mostly refined and re-exported.
Germany and Poland would be the worst affected should the dispute affect transit supplies to Europe. Germany last year received 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude via the Druzhba pipeline, or just under 15 percent of its total consumption.
Refineries belonging to Total, Shell and BP are among the biggest buyers of crude from Druzhba.
(Reporting by Olga Tomashevskaya, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Editing by Michael Roddy) Keywords: BELARUS RUSSIA/OIL (dmitri.zhdannikov@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: dmitri.zhdannikov.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.