Lithuania's Klaipedos Nafta, the state-owned operator of the oil products terminal...
Lithuania's Klaipedos Nafta, the state-owned operator of the oil products terminal in the port of Klaipeda, handled a total of 819,000 tons of oil products in February 2004, posting an increase of 28.6 percent from February 2003 and a rise of 6.4 percent from January 2004.
The oil products flow via the terminal reached 1.589 million tons in the first two months of 2004, a surge of 38.6 percent from a respective period of 2003, said Andrius Betingis, a manager for Klaipedos Nafta marketing and sales department.
In March the rise in the oil products flow should equal that in February, unless hindered by weather conditions, he told BNS.
"At present, when the Volga river is coated with ice, the flow of heavy fuel oil to Russia has risen. However, as soon as the ice comes off, the flow of HFO via Klaipeda will decline immediately," said Evaldas Bivilis, Klaipedos Nafta chairman and adviser to Lithuania's minister of economy.
Klaipedos Nafta intends to launch exports of crude oil in 2004, having made the required modifications of facilities. The state commission should approve new facilities and installations in March.
The state owns 66.94 percent of the company.
