Kazakhs want equal treatment: the discrepancy between tariffs paid by Russian and Kazakh oil exporters is causing consternation.

Kazakhstan's energy ministry has appealed to its Russian counterpart for crude transit tariffs similar to those that Russian oil exporters pay.

Crude exporters from Kazakhstan say they pay tariffs that are, on average, double those of their Russian counterparts. "We want equal transportation tariffs for all destinations, including Novorossiysk and the Druzhba pipeline," says a senior official at Kazakh pipeline operator Transneftegaz (TNG). In support of its claim, Kazakhstan cites international practice.

Russian premier Viktor Khristenko promised this week at a meeting of the Russo-Kazakh intergovernmental cooperation commission that the federal energy …