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Russia continues oil exports via southern Druzhba pipeline
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Russia to ship 3.1 mln T Urals to EU via southern spur in
Q1
(Adds details, Orlen Unipetrol comment)
MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) - Russia's piped supply of
Urals crude to the European Union via the southern spur of the
Druzhba pipeline is set to rise 6% on a daily basis in the first
quarter from the three months before, data from industry sources
and Reuters calculations showed.
The EU pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime
routes from Dec. 5. Supply via the Druzhba pipeline remains
exempt from sanctions, though flows via its northern spur, which
supplies Poland and Germany, dried up last month.
The southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline runs via Ukraine
to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and has been the
primary source of supply for their refineries for years.
Flows via Druzhba to those three countries will rise to
about 3.1 million tonnes in the first quarter from some 3
million the quarter before, according to trade and industry
sources and Reuters calculations.
Alternative oil suppliers to their plants include the Adria
pipeline connecting Croatia's Omisalj port to Hungary and the
Transalpine pipeline (TAL) that connects Italy's Trieste to
Czech refineries.
Russian oil exports via Druzhba's southern spur over the
last six month have been lower compared to the period from March
to September last year, sources told Reuters.
"Average oil exports along the southern branch (of the
Druzhba pipeline) in March-September 2022 stood above 300,000
barrels per day, but went down to average some 250,000 barrels
per day in October 2022 to March 2023," an industry source said.
The main buyer of Urals crude in Slovakia and Hungary is
Hungarian oil and gas company MOL . The Czech
Republic's sole buyer Unipetrol is controlled by Polish firm PKN
Orlen .
Rosneft, Lukoil and Tatneft were the main Russian exporters
via the route. MOL and Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft did
not reply to requests for comment. Russia's Energy Ministry
declined to comment.
"The Czech Republic has a negotiated exemption for oil from
the Druzhba pipeline, which is valid until the implementation of
an alternative solution is completed," Orlen Unipetrol told
Reuters.
Unipetrol has "secured sufficient supplies of crude oil for
both our refineries in Litvinov and Kralupy nad Vltavou", the
firm's representative said, with its refineries sourcing crude
from "various regions".
Urals supplies via the northern spur of the Druzhba pipeline were fully suspended in February after Russia halted supplies of oil to Poland's PKN Orlen. Germany voluntarily stopped importing Russian Urals via Druzhba from Jan. 1, 2023, with Germany and Poland hoping to make up for the shortage of Russian crude by importing Kazakh oil via the same pipeline. Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft has received requests from Germany and Poland for oil from Kazakhstan via Druzhba in April-June 2023. Kazakh oil started flowing to Poland for onward delivery to Germany late in February for the first time. Kazakhstan plans to ship 20,000 tonnes of crude to Germany in March, and the same volume in April. (Reporting by Reuters; Additional reporting by Robert Muller and Krisztina Than; Editing by Jason Neely and Jan Harvey)
