In Russia, Ample Supply, Few Pipelines

USINSK, Russia

But for now, the Russian government controls exports. So instead, oil from here is pumped into a maze of state-run pipelines stretching far to the south, where it is blended with inferior oil and sold at a discount.

“What can we do?” asked Sergei M. Nesterenko, director of Northern Oil, a subsidiary of the state-owned Rosneft. “Once it’s in the pipe, we no longer control the oil.”