MOSCOW: Any further Western sanctions which may aim at technology for Russia’s modernising oil refineries could lead to gasoline shortages, an energy ministry official said.
The latest Western sanctions, imposed today, have targeted technology for Russia’s Arctic oil exploration and shale oil projects.
Yury Zolotnikov, a deputy head of the oil refining department, said his ministry already expected gasoline shortages next year and in 2016, with Russia on “a dangerous balance” of production only marginally higher than consumption.
“So far, there have been no such sanctions, but they obviously could create problems (for refinery modernisation),” Zolotnikov told Reuters in an interview.
Sanctions have limited the ability of Russian companies to borrow from the Western capital markets and hit Rosneft , Russia’s top oil producer, which has had to cut its staff as its production falls. (PTI)
