China will reportedly cover oil shipping costs

Russian Railways said China would foot the transport bill for Yukos oil being shipped to China if Yukos can�t cover shipping costs, Interfax reported. Yukos ships 124,000 barrels of crude into China daily. While earnings from that might normally be enough to cover shipping costs, Yukos has to pay down $3.4 billion in back taxes and has warned that it could go bankrupt. The company's bank accounts are frozen and Yukos is barred from selling assets to raise money. So far, it has paid only US$750 million of the 2000 bill and the company is still being investigated by tax auditors. One estimate suggests its total tax arrears may end up close to US$10 billion.