GOVERNMENT DRAFTING PROPOSALS ON CHECHEN OIL EXPORT PROFITS
He said the idea was reasonable and advised the interlocutors to address the proposal to the prime minister. “I will speak to him,” Putin said. “If necessary, the government will make a decision, and if we need legislative changes, I am ready to make a related request to deputies of the State Duma,” he said.
Grozneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft, will export 1.9 million tonnes of Chechen oil in 2004, a source in the republican ministry of industry and energy told Itar-Tass.
“Our oil does not need deep refinery. It meets the international quality standards. If the federal authorities decide to keep all oil export profits in the republic, the reconstructions in Chechnya will obviously intensify,” the source said.
Experts say that annual oil export profits may exceed $370 million if average oil prices on the world market make $30 per barrel. “Chechen oil workers have a task of increasing the production to 5 million tonnes a year. Industrial reserves of oil exceed 50 million tonnes, while appraised reserves make over 800 million tonnes. At present 83 oil wells are at work,” the source said.
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