The  daughter  company  of  Ventspils Nafta - Ventspils Nafta Termināls

handled  in February 2004 0.7 million tonnes of crude oil and petroleum

products.  The  results  as above are connected with some events on the

world  oil  market.  All  cargoes  are  delivered  to  Ventspils  Nafta

Termināls only by railway.

In  February  2004  the  volume  of cargoes supplied to Ventspils Nafta

Termināls  is bigger than in January, however, due to changeable market

conditions some owners preferred to store their cargoes on the terminal

in  Ventspils  without  shipping  them  further  to  any  sale outlets.

Therefore,  the  throughput  of gas oil reported by the terminal was in

the amount of 0.4 million tonnes in February 2004.

Crude  oil volume handled by Ventspils Nafta Termināls in February 2004

made  up of 0.2 million tonnes. The throughput of crude oil in February

was  hindered  by prices for petroleum products, mainly gasoline, which

went  high on the world market and as a result the receipt of crude oil

at some refineries in Europe that operate at their maximum capacity was

bottlenecked.  At  the  same  time,  due  to having small reserves and,

therefore,  an increased demand the crude oil export to the USA went up

and  decreased  respectively  the  volumes  handled mainly by terminals

serving the European market.

The  volumes  of  various grades of gasoline handled by Ventspils Nafta

Termināls in February made up of 0.1 million tonnes. The throughput was

also influenced by high demand for gasoline in the USA.

Gundega Vārpa

Ph: 7229793

e-mail:vnafta@mailbox.riga.lv