Kazakhstan increases tariff for transit of Russian oil to Uzbekistan

KazTransOil, the national oil pipeline company in Kazakhstan, has increased a tariff for Russian oil that goes to Uzbekistan through Kaztransoil pipelines from $25.12 per ton of oil to $27.90 per ton. The new tariff will enter into force on February 1, 2023, according to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

«KazTransOil is announcing that by Order No. 154 signed by the director general on December 27, 2022, the company imposes a new tariff of $27.90 (VAT excluded) per ton for the transportation of Russian oil to Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan’s territory. This tariff is entering into force on February 1, 2023,» the KASE said in the statement, citing the pipeline company.

Because KazTransOil is the national company it has no power to impose or change any of the internal tariffs for the transportation of oil. These types of tariffs are regulated by the Committee on the Regulation of Natural Monopolies under the Ministry of National Economy. On the other hand, the pipeline company can levy oil transit and export tariffs on its own.

The current tariff for the transportation of Russian oil to Uzbekistan is $25.12 per ton. In turn, this figure consists of two other tariffs: $24.28 per ton for crude oil transfer from the state border between Russia and Kazakhstan to the Shagyr oil terminal and $0.84 per ton for pumping the oil into railway cisterns at the terminal.

About the same time, the Russian oil pipeline company Transneft reported that KazTransOil asked for a reservation of 1.2 million tons of oil that Kazakhstan plans to send to Germany this year (300,000 tons in the first quarter), according to RIA Novosti, citing Igor Demin, adviser in Transneft. KazTransOil neither confirmed nor denied this information.

However, on December 21, KazMunayGaz (KMG), the parent company for KazTransOil said it can supply oil to Germany’s Schwedt refinery which used to buy Russian oil but now seeks out new suppliers. At the time, KMG said that it is ready to send the first shipment of oil in January 2023.

In September, Germany’s Ministry of Economy designated the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) as a trust manager of Rosneft Deutschland GmbH (RDG) and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH (RNRM), subsidiaries of the Russian Gazprom in Germany. As a result, BNetzA has gained control over Gazprom’s shares in three German refineries: PCK Raffinerie, Schwedt (54.17%), MiRO, Karlsruhe (24%), and Bayernoil, Vohburg (28.57%).

According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy Bolat Akchulakov, the country can send to Germany about seven million tons of oil a year. The key pipeline that connects oil fields in Kazakhstan with consumers in Europe is the Atyrau-Samara pipeline with a capacity of 10 million tons of oil per year. It is connected to the system of oil pipelines called Druzhba. Another pipeline that stretches from Kazakhstan to Makhachkala has a capacity of two million tons. With the help of these pipelines, Kazakhstan can export 12 million tons of oil per year: 5 million tons to Romania and 7 million to other consumers in Europe.