Russia has agreed to pay Kazakhstan a fixed per-barrel rate of compensation for tainted oil, industry sources said on Wednesday, a breakthrough in an oil contamination crisis that disrupted Russian and Kazakh flows earlier this year. FILE PHOTO: An oil storage tank of Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft is pictured at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, Russia February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Vladimir Soldatkin/File Photo It is the first such deal and could serve as a template for other agreements, including with Western buyers of Russian oil. Russian oil flows have been contaminated with chemicals along several transit routes since the end of April. Around 700,000 tonnes of Kazakh oil sent via Russia were also affected. Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft has agreed a preliminary deal under which it will pay a fixed rate for the contaminated oil to Kazakh pipeline firm KazTransOil or Kazakh oil producers, the […]