Poland suspends oil imports via Russian pipeline

The decision is due to the contamination of the Russian crude with material which could damage oil refining equipment, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Polish refiner Grupa Lotos has said in a statement that the decision does not affect the quality of gas sold at its service stations and that supplies stored at the facilities would provide a steady supply of fuel until the situation was resolved.

With flow of oil via the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline stopped in Poland, the crude is not reaching its German customers. More than half of imports for German plants belonging to oil majors such as Shell, Total and BP comes through the pipeline, the Reuters news agency has reported.

Russia’s ministry of energy said Transneft, the Russian state-owned oil pipeline giant, was attempting to fix the issue but gave no timeframe, Reuters reported.

According to the Polish energy ministry, cited by IAR, Polish refiners may have to import oil via sea tankers if there is an extended break in supplies.

The Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline is the world’s longest oil link, running from Russia to Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Germany. It can ship up to 1 million barrels per day.

(jh/pk)

Source: IAR, Reuters, rmf24