OREANDA-NEWS  On 02 March was announced, that TNK-BP will begin trading oil products on the St.Petersburg International Raw Material and Commodity Exchange (SPRMCE) in March, according to an announcement by the Exchange. Talks were held on Thursday between Exchange management and TNK-BP.

“During the meeting there was a discussion of the development of exchange trading in Russia. Following the meeting TNK-BP management confirmed its intention to carry out trading operations via the St.Petersburg International Raw Material and Commodity Exchange, starting in March 2009. The company is currently agreeing the technical details of such participation”, said the announcement.

TNK-BP’s press service has confirmed to ANI that the company intends to begin trading oil products at the SPIRMCE, though the company representative stated that “it’s too early to talk about possible sales volumes”.

During a government meeting on the fuel and energy sector in mid-February Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted that government is in favour of developing concrete actions to step up exchange trading of crude and oil products.

At a government meeting this Thursday Putin said that development of Russian trading floors will help to create more transparent pricing mechanisms for crude and oil products.

CJSC Sankt-Peterburgskaya Mezhdunarodnaya Tovarno-syryevaya Birzha received a licence from the Federal Financial Markets Service on 28 May 2009. Its founders include the major Russian companies Transneft, Transnefteprodukt, Rosneft, Gazpromneft, Zarubezhneft, Surgutneftegaz, leading traders and transport companies, Sovcomflot, Russian Railways, VTB, Sberbank and Gazprombank.