PRESS: Russia’s Novatek wants gas transportation tariff cut 20%

MOSCOW, Apr 7 (PRIME) -- Independent Russian gas producer Novatek has suggested gas giant Gazprom cut its natural gas transportation tariff by 20% in a letter to the Economic Development and Energy ministries, business daily Vedomosti reported Thursday citing sources.

Novatek thinks that Gazprom’s pricing is ungrounded, as it includes costs of the parent company of Gazprom holding, and it is unclear why gas producers should pay for them, a source told Vedomosti.

About a third of the costs included in the tariff are not transparent, an industry source told the business daily. The bulk of the costs is “rent of equipment for production purposes” amounts to 474 billion rubles, financial expenses to 151 billion rubles, and capital repairs to 105 billion rubles. Gazprom plans to make 1.1 trillion rubles from gas transportation in 2016, but its costs total 958.4 billion rubles, Vedomosti reported citing the gas monopoly’s documents.

In its presentations, Gazprom usually says that the gas transportation segment is loss-making, and its rate of return stood at minus 2.4–2.2% in 2014–2015, the business daily reported.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service is to set tariffs for transportation of natural gas through main pipelines from 2016, and tariffs are usually raised from July 1.

The Energy and Economic Development Ministries said they had received Novatek’s letter and are now working on their position. The Federal Antimonopoly Service declined to comment. Independent gas producers will be satisfied with any increase of the gas transportation tariff as long as it is raised by a lesser degree than wholesale gas prices, Vedomosti said.

End