Economics

23:53, 18.10.2007 | Sakhalin Region

Gazprom Neft , the oil arm of Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom , has set up a bunker fuel division to service ships in major Russian ports, the company said on Wednesday.

The company said in a statement it wanted to bring sales of marine fuel, which is made by blending fuel oil with lighter products, to 1.5 million tonnes in 2009, focusing on the ports of St Petersburg, Novorossiisk, Murmansk and Russia's Far East.
"In the future the company is planning to create a bunker servicing network of its own across Russian ports and expand its activities on international bunker fuel markets," the statement quoted Gazprom Neft's president, Alexander Dyukov, as saying.
The bunker fuel services business is expected to grow strongly in Russia in coming years as the country is expands existing ports and constructs new ones to increase cargo turnover amid robust economic growth.

-Reuters