THE heat in the crude oil markets subsided yesterday as Yukos, the Russian oil giant under siege from the Kremlin tax authorities, won a reprieve in the courts.

A judge in the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled that the seizure of a key production subsidiary of Yukos by bailiffs was illegal, a decision that could stay the threatened dismemberment of Russia’s largest oil company.

Oil traders in New York had earlier marked down the US light crude futures contract, which hit a record of $44.77 a barrel in overnight trading on Thursday. London Brent crude also dipped but remained above $41 a barrel, reflecting market concerns over the threat of disruption to crude oil supplies.

The rescue of Yuganskneftegaz is the first significant victory for Yukos in its battle to prevent the fire sale of the company’s assets by the tax authorities. Bailiffs acting for the Tax Ministry confiscated the shares in Yuganskneftegaz, which accounts for 60 per cent of the oil giant’s daily production of 1.69 million barrels, intending to sell them in settlement of a $3.4 billion claim for back taxes and penalties.

The oil company’s lawyers argued that Yukos should be allowed to sell non-core assets and proposed the sale of Rospan, a gas production unit, valued at about $600 million.

Yukos still faces a hurdle in maintaining its operations as its bank accounts are still frozen by the courts.

The company faces a deadline next week to pay pipeline tariffs and taxes, including export duties, totalling about $900 million.

Failure to pay the pipeline and rail freight tariffs could prevent Yukos from exporting its crude, a threat that has been a principal factor in exciting the oil markets. The company’s total output exceeds the production of Libya. Half its production is exported, arousing fears that a shutdown would disrupt world oil supplies. However, industry experts suggest that a loss of Yukos crude would quickly be replaced by rival Russian producers.