MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - The signing of a $1-billion agreement on Russian crude supplies to China was postponed indefinitely Tuesday after Russian companies failed to agree on transportation conditions, a source said Tuesday.
"The agreement was to be signed together with other deals today during the opening ceremony of the Chinese national exhibition in Russia," the source said commenting on the deal expected to be signed as part of Chinese leader Hu Jintao's three-day visit to Moscow.
"This was the most ambitious agreement but the signing was postponed at the last moment," the source said.
The source said Russian state-controlled crude producer Rosneft [RTS: ROSN] had promised to negotiate crude deliveries with the Russian Railways monopoly but the companies failed to agree on a discount tariff.
"The talks will be continued. It is our internal matter, and we have no problems with the Chinese side," the source said.
Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Railways head, said in February his company planned to transport about 15 million metric tons (110 million bbl) of oil to China in 2007, with Rosneft supplying two-thirds of the volume.
Crude transportation along the Trans-Siberian railroad to China increased 33.6% last year to 10.3 million metric tons (76 million bbl). Last year, most Russian oil exports to China were transported by rail.
Russia is also building a 2,920-mile East Siberian pipeline to pump up to 1.6 million barrels of oil per day to Russia's Far East and on to Asia-Pacific countries, including China. The first leg of the pipeline will be commissioned in December 2008, with Rosneft being the core supplier.
