Pipeline auctions take shape.(Brief Article)

Russia's energy ministry last week issued a draft government resolution to regulate the system for auctioning spare space in crude export pipelines.

Auctions will be organised by the energy ministry's central dispatch unit (CDU). But their outcome will have to be approved by deputy premier and government export commission (MVK) head Viktor Khristenko.

The system is envisaged as an alternative to the old system of distributing exports on the basis of the methodology for exports by small and medium-sized producers (see above). In theory, it should bring more transparency to the distribution of crude export allocations.

Once the resolution is signed, …