By Gleb Gorodyankin
MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Belarus' state oil company
Belorusneft has suspended supplies of its own oil to Germany
this month as Minsk needs to compensate for shortages of
Russia-sourced oil amid a contract dispute with Moscow, four
industry sources told Reuters on Friday.
Russia suspended oil supplies to Belarus on Jan. 1 in
relation to a dispute over supply contract terms between Moscow
and Minsk. Two Russian firms, Russneft and Neftisa, restored
some supplies late on Jan. 4.
Belorusneft's decision to suspend oil flows to Germany shows
the challenges Minsk is facing while trying to negotiate the new
oil supply deal with Russia. Moscow and Minsk have had several
oil and gas spats over the past decade.
The Belorusneft supplies are separate from Russian oil
transit to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline, part of which comes
via Belarus and which so far has not been affected.
Belorusneft supplies more than 100,000 tonnes per month of
its crude oil to PCK Raffinerie GmbH in the north east of
Germany. The refinery is majority owned by Rosneft
(54.17%). Royal Dutch Shell has 37.5% in the plant,
while Italian Eni owns 8.33%.
Belorusneft and Rosneft did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for a comment. PCK's spokeswoman Vica Fajnor did
not respond to Reuters' calls on Friday.
Rosneft has said it is the third largest oil refining
company on the German market with a total crude oil refining
capacity of up to 12.5 million tonnes per year, representing
more than 12% of Germany's capacity.
Belorusneft supplies are a tenth of the refinery's needs.
Russian oil firms Russneft and Neftisa, part of tycoon
Mikhail Gutseriyev's business, restored supplies to Belarus on
Jan. 4 - the only Russian companies to do so.
Other Russian companies are continuing to work on new supply
contract terms with state-run Belneftekhim, which controls
Belarus' two refineries.
Last year, Belorusneft awarded a tender for 1.66 million
tonnes of Urals for delivery along the Druzhba pipeline in 2020
to Rosneft unit Rosneft Trading, according to trade
sources.
Europe receives around 10% of its oil via the Druzhba
pipeline, which can supply more than 1 million barrels per day
to countries including Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and
the Czech Republic.
(Reporting Gleb Gorodyankin
Additional reporting by Olesya Astakhova
Editing by Katya Golubkova and Jane Merriman)