Moscow and Minsk will soon reach an agreement...
"We hope that the agreement will be reached in the nearest future," Sergei Shmatko said adding that the talks between Russia and Belarus would continue on Thursday in Moscow.
The dispute between Moscow and Minsk has raised fears in Germany and Poland that supplies may be affected, as they were during a similar dispute in 2007.
Belarus benefited from significant discounts on Russian oil imports in 2009, and is seeking a similar deal this year. Russia says it is willing to eliminate all duties on oil supplied to Belarus for domestic consumption, but wants oil bound for European markets to be subject to duty.
On Tuesday Belarus has lowered its crude oil export duty from $271 to $267 per metric ton from January 1.
Russia exported around 25 million tons of oil to Belarus last year, but only 5-6 million tons were for domestic consumption. The rest was re-exported, some after passing through one of the country"s two oil refineries.