Technical problems stop Russian oil supplies through Druzhba pipeline – Reuters

The supply of Russian and Kazakh oil to Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Germany through the Druzhba pipeline has been suspended since Thursday due to technical problems at a Russian pumping station.

Source: Reuters

Details: The Druzhba pipeline has a capacity of 2 million barrels per day, making it one of the largest in the world, and the last pipeline connecting Russian oilfields to European refineries after EU countries’ efforts to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.

Belarusian concern Belneftekhim confirmed the disruption in oil supplies through Druzhba in a comment to BelTA and said that Belarusian refineries are using stored oil to maintain operations.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to make public statements, said Transneft had discovered the problem at a pumping station in Unecha, in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, about 70 km from the border with Belarus.

The pipeline had been transporting 300,000 barrels a day before the shutdown.

According to the sources, the disruption has affected Russian oil shipments to Belarus and the EU, while shipments from Russia's western ports of Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk have remained unaffected. One source suggested that oil could be diverted from Druzhba to the ports.

Another source said that the problem could be resolved in a few days, while a third said that supplies would be suspended until the end of the month.

Hungary's MOL, which needs the oil for its refineries, said on Friday that it had information that supplies could be resumed in a few days and that the disruption would not affect the region's energy security.

A spokesperson for Czech refinery Orlen Unipetrol said that "the supply of crude oil through the Druzhba pipeline has not been interrupted yet".

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