PRIMORSK, November 23. /TASS/. Russia's oil pipeline company Transneft has dispatched one billion tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons (oil and diesel fuel) for export via Primorsk Port in Russia's north-west since loading its first tanker in 2001.

"The landmark billionth tonne of oil was shipped on November 23, 2018 to Mastera tanker en route to Porvoo Port (Finland)," Transneft said on Friday.

A total pf 901.2 mln tonnes of oil were shipped and 9,099 tankers were handled from the start of operations at Primorsk Port as of November 23. Diesel fuel shipments totaled 98.8 mln tonnes, with 3,361 tankers handled. In total, 12,460 tankers and 1 bln tonnes of oil and oil products were handled.

Achieving such a landmark of oil throughput is a step towards establishing the futures market, Deputy Vice President of Transneft Vladimir Nazarov said. "A roadmap is currently present, with activities implemented within its framework to create futures agreements or contracts for oil and diesel fuel from Primorsk Port," the top manager says. "We cannot speak about the futures market without the commodity market. These are merely interrelated things. We should offer a continuous flow of oil and oil products of standard quality to the market - this is exactly what we have achieved at this terminal," Nazarov told reporters.

Primorsk Port is the largest Russian oil loading port on the Baltic Sea and the endpoint of the Baltic Pipeline System. The shipment capacity of the port is 60 mln tonnes per year for crude oil and 25 mln tonnes per year for oil products. A total of 37.7 mln tonnes of oil and 15 mln tonnes of oil products are planned for shipment in 2018.