Recently, very little oil flowed through the Druzhba pipeline to Poland. But these deliveries are now being stopped by Russia, according to Poland. Replacement should come by sea.
According to the Polish company PKN Orlen, Russia no longer supplies oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline. The Russian side has stopped the supply of oil under the last valid contract, which covered about 10 percent of Orlen’s needs, the company said. Orlen assured that this will not affect the supply of Polish customers and that “all deliveries can be ensured by sea”.
The stop came a day after the European Union approved a new package of sanctions aimed at hitting Russia’s economy and Iranian companies accused of aiding the invasion of Ukraine that began a year ago.
Two weeks ago, Poland’s Deputy Minister of State Treasury, Maciej Malecki, admitted that the existing contract with Russia’s Tatneft Group, which expires at the end of 2024, covers “about 10 percent of Orlen’s needs,” which equates to 200,000 tons of oil per month . Malecki assured that the contract with Tatneft is “the only one” that is still in force.
The northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline supplied Poland and Germany with Russian crude oil, leading to the refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, where the crude oil was processed into fuel and heating oil. There is also a southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Hungary and Slovakia with Russian oil.
EU sanctions that have been in place for a long time because of the Russian attack on Ukraine ban Russian oil imports by sea. But there is an exception for pipeline oil. Nevertheless, Germany and Poland had announced that they would no longer purchase oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline from January. While Germany implemented this, some deliveries to Poland initially continued.
