Yukos to the Rescue

Russian oil giant Yukos has signed an agreement with Russian Railways that will see its oil exports to China rise five-fold to 15 mln tons in 2006 from last year, the China Daily reported.

The rail agreement comes as the proposed Sino-Russian oil pipeline has been stalled indefinitely.
Under the agreement, Yukos' oil exports to China by rail will reach 6.4 mln tons this year and 8.5 mln tons by 2005, from 3 mln tons last year, the newspaper said
.
Last month, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) agreed to buy 10 mln tons of oil annually from Yukos for seven years starting 2006, while Sinopec has said it will buy the remaining 5 mln tons via another rail link, according to the report.