From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 4/27/2006 1:24 AM
April 26th 2006 · Prague Watchdog / Liza Osmayeva     
    
    
Chechen government demands to gain control of oil resources

By Liza Osmayeva

GROZNY, Chechnya – In the near future Grozny plans to present an updated version of the agreement on power sharing between the federal centre and the Chechen Republic. Within the framework of the document that is being prepared, the Chechen government intends to gain unprecedented economic privileges for the republic, including a transfer to local authorities of control over oil resources.

The Chechen side believes that the income from oil sales must be spent on the restoration of the republic. But they consider that in order for this to be possible Chechnya must be given the right to the independent use of natural resources, including oil production. It should be noted that this question has already been raised by the Chechen side on several occasions. In particular, it was something on which the now deceased Moscow-backed Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov insisted.

Under his leadership, the first draft of an agreement on power sharing was prepared and presented for debate at the end of 2003. According to its provisions, the Chechen side would be allowed to control the income from oil. However, the assassination of Akhmat Kadyrov on May 9, 2004 prevented the realization of these plans.

In the middle of the last century the Chechen Republic was one of the main suppliers of petroleum products in the Soviet Union. In the 1970s Chechnya gave the country more than 20m tons of oil per year. Three oil refineries operated on the republic’s territory, and their power made it possible to process up to 30m tons of crude per year. However, in the course of the first military campaign in Chechnya these enterprises were completely destroyed, and the remaining equipment misappropriated. As a result Chechnya was left without the possibility of independent oil refining, and all crude oil obtained here is exported beyond the republic’s borders.

In the opinion of specialists, the chemical composition of Chechen oil makes it one of the best in Russia and even in the world. At present up to a hundred wells are exploited on the territory of the Chechen Republic. In the last two years, oil production has increased to 2m tons per year. But this is not yet the limit, specialists believe. With a competent approach to the output and development of the existing strata, it can be increased several times. Since no geological study has been undertaken in the Chechen Republic during the last twenty years, it is rather difficult to talk of new reserves of hydrocarbon raw material. Today’s predicted reserves are assessed at 83.2m tons, oil industry workers say.