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In Chechnya, Pipelines Still Pumping Oil

Russian oil pipelines crossing the rebel Chechen republic have not been affected by this week's conflict in the north Caucasus region, an official at the state pipeline operator Transneft said.


"The crisis is not affecting oil pumping in any way," the official in Transneft's central dispatch unit said.


Russian troops, who moved into Chechnya on Sunday, had been ordered to take control of local oil refining facilities and pipelines running through the territory, Interfax said over the weekend.


The big refinery at Dolinskoye, around which fierce clashes took place between rebels and Russian troops Monday, has been working well below capacity for some time, oil industry sources in Moscow said.


The refinery can process up to 12 million tons of crude oil a year, but industry sources say it has lost many of its Russian specialists since Chechnya declared independence in 1991, triggering a long period of tension with Moscow.

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