Russia may help North Korea rebuild refinery

Moscow, Mar 23: Russia may resume oil supplies to North Korea and could help the country rebuild a refinery, said a document prepared for a meeting today of an intergovernmental commission between the two countries.

The document said Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, had expressed preliminary interest in the project.

The document said Gazprom Neft had requested additional information from the North Korean side.

North Korea has two major refineries, Sungri in the Northeast and Ponghwa in the West.

Sungri is the largest plant and had been getting crude from Russia while Ponghwa is usually supplied from China.

The Russian document said the refinery in question was called Synri, presumably referring to Sungri.

At Beijing talks in February with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, Pyongyang agreed to shut its Yongbyonreactor within 60 days in return for an initial shipment of heavy fuel oil and unfreezing of some North Korean assets.

Reuters