OREANDA-NEWS  The largest oil companies in Russia have faced difficulties with the transportation of petroleum products by rail in the eastern direction, cargo is constantly and unpredictably delayed in departure. Kommersant writes about this with reference to sources in the industry.

The interlocutors of the publication claim that the issue has been repeatedly raised at meetings of the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy and the exchange Committee of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), but it is not possible to solve it. Railwaymen beat off claims with reminders about the shortage of capacity of the Eastern Polygon (Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railway).

There was a problem in the second half of 2022, and the situation is getting worse. The head of Gazpromneft, Alexander Dyukov, in a corresponding letter indicated that the number of idle wagons with products from the Omsk Oil Refinery (refinery), shipped from the Kombinatskaya (Omsk Region) and Sokur (Novosibirsk Region) stations, exceeds 400 units or 65 percent of the daily shipment on a single day, which is critical for the manufacturer.

The company believes that the scale of accumulation of loaded wagons in conditions of limited infrastructure threatens the implementation of the production and sales programs of the plant. To solve the problem, she suggests setting daily quotas for receiving wagons at the level of 220 units.

Vice-President of the Russian Fuel Union Rinat Fattakhov confirmed this information. Since November, there have been massive extensions of exchange contracts for shipments of more than 30 days, and Russian Railways has limited coordination of applications for shipments.