Vainshtok said the reason for the increase was that Transneft needed more funds for its construction projects.
Sources said specific projects, such as the Baltic Pipeline System or a pipeline to run parallel to the Ukrainian border between the Sukhodolnaya and Rodionovka compressor stations in western Russia, were not discussed and the conversation dealt with developing the transport infrastructure in general.
Vainshtok asked the oil bosses to make their own proposals to the Federal Energy Commission, which regulates Transneft?€™s fees, on what the tariff on transporting oil for export should be.
It was unclear whether a one-off price increase was discussed or whether Transneft wanted to change its entire methodology for calculating prices by establishing a special investment fee for moving oil.
The exact amount Transneft requires was not divulged. In August the monopoly made an application to the Federal Energy Commission proposing tariff increases of 25 percent, which Transneft subsequently withdrew.
At the meeting oil heads suggested that Transneft could make more effective use of the funds it already has.
Over the past year oil majors?€™ transportation costs have increased significantly. A government source said that the rises have brought Transneft $400 million more this year than in 1999.
The head of one oil company said the critical reaction to Transneft?€™s presentation of its plight was such that "by the end of the meeting the Transneft president looked rather embarrassed."
Several other thorny issues were discussed, including the difference between actual losses from pipelines and the estimates used by Transneft.
Transneft did not comment on the meeting, but vice president Sergei Grigoryev said earlier that while Transneft?€™s figures looked daunting this was nothing to the oil majors. In his words, the oil companies spend a mere 3 percent of their income on transportation.
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