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First Direct Shipment Of
Russian Crude Oil Arrives In Texas

By Kristen Hays
The Associated Press
From The Moscow Times
7-6-2


HOUSTON -- The first shipment of Russian oil directly to the United States arrived in Houston on Wednesday, and U.S. officials hailed the delivery as a step toward reducing dependence on Middle East oil.
 
Mikhail Brudno, first vice president of No. 2 oil company Yukos, which made the shipment, said it would be the first of five or six to the United States this year.
 
The 200,000-metric-ton shipment arrived in the Port of Houston aboard the supertanker Astro Lupus.
 
Brudno said the shipment had been purchased by Exxon Mobil Corp. and another buyer, whom he declined to identify.
 
Yukos announced in May that it would send its first tankers to the United States this summer. That announcement followed a summit meeting in Moscow at which President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin signed an energy cooperation statement.
 
Michael Smith, U.S. assistant secretary of energy for fossil fuels, said at a news conference Wednesday that Russia needs to increase its share of world oil exports and the United States must diversify its sources of oil.
 
"I hope this will be the first of many shipments in the future," Smith said.
 
U.S. Representatives Ken Bentsen and Nick Lampson said the shipment was a necessary first step to increase U.S. sources for oil.
 
"This opens up the lines for more oil in the market to meet our demands," Bentsen said. "We're always going to want to expand the marketplace."
 
Russia currently supplies a tiny percentage of U.S. imports, and oil is its chief export.
 
Shipping to the United States, however, is costly because of Yukos' lack of infrastructure -- primarily deep-water ports -- and increased transportation needs, Misamore said. The company would need to add infrastructure before it can really make a dent in the U.S. market, he said.
 
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/07/05/042.html





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