Not only is Russia an oil-producing nation, but it is also the world's leading oil-producing nation. So nationwide petroleum shortages are technically impossible, Igor Sechin told the meeting.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that he will conduct in-depth assessments of petrol shortages in every region. He said this implied foul play in some cases. And in some other cases, logistics decisions have to be made. At the same time, it is impossible to deny objective factors influencing domestic market, and the overall price situation on global commodity markets among them.

Mr Sechin warned that additional measures, primarily those regarding petrol feedstock, could be implemented, in case the current monitoring survey failed to bring about any improvements. At the same time, he voiced confidence that there were pre-requisites for solving the problem in a civilised way.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that he expected the Ministry of Energy to assume a more active role. "Coordination is essential. Daily work must be conducted until we attain stabilisation," Mr Sechin said. He also drew the attention of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision to issues linked with petroleum refining depth and the modernisation of refineries. "In some cases, the corporate data does not reflect the true figures of processing depth," Mr Sechin said.

Moreover, Mr Sechin said the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service must conduct a check into wholesale price hikes and possible collusion on the petroleum market.

The Government has some claims against raw materials suppliers, the Deputy Prime Minister noted. Only eight companies, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, LUKOIL, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz, Bashneft, Rusneft and Alliance, trade on the St. Petersburg Commodity Exchange. "We have many more raw materials producers. But why are the rest not involved in public trading?" Mr Sechin inquired. He added that insufficient commodity exchange transactions created conditions for unrealistic prices, and that exchanges tended to raise prices due to a lack of commodities.