Article author:
Reuters
Gergely Szakacs and Jan Lopatka
BUDAPEST — Russia's oil pipeline flow resumed to Central Europe on Wednesday after Hungarian group MOL paid a transit fee. After that, the 6-day suspension ended. Ukraine offers a temporary solution to recent disruptions in Russia's energy supply.
MOL said the oil was again flowing through he Druzhba or the southern branch of the Friendship Pipeline, reaching Slovakia and should reach Hungary on Thursday. However, oil flows to the Czech Republic are not expected to resume.
On Tuesday, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft announced that it had suspended its centralhttps://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-suspends-oil-exports-via-southern-leg-druzhba-pipeline-due-transit-2022-08-09。 .
Hungary criticized European Union sanctions against https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/europe-shot-itself-lungs-with-sanctions-russia-orban-says-2022-07-15 Russia, which said pipeline flow to parts of Europe had been stopped.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine has raised fears of shortages, especially in Europe, which is dependent on Russian fuel, the suspension of Druzhba has pushed oil prices higher, along with prices for other forms of energy. It's already skyrocketing.
International benchmark crude fell Wednesday on news of the Druzba pipeline and rising US crude inventories.
MOL said Wednesday it had remitted tolls to use the Ukrainian portion of the pipeline, offering a "quick solution."
In a statement, it said it had stopped "due to technical difficulties encountered at the bank's front line."
MOL's Slovak subsidiary Slovnaft has also made payments to allow the resumption of flows to Slovakia, Slovnaft said.
Temporary fix
Slovak Economy Minister Richard Slick said at a press conference that after Western banks refused to process transit payments made by Russia, payments by Slovnaft said it was a solution in August. to Ukraine.
"I don't see any additional political background behind this, as nothing. Simply put, there was a technical failure or an inaccurate assessment. You get glitches like that," he said.
Slovakia's burden of transit charges was about 9 million to 10 million euros ($9.3 million to $10.4 million), he said. Hungary he MOL has not disclosed the size of its Hungarian shares.
Pipeline flow outages also hit the Czech Republic.
Czech refiner Unipetrol said it had enough oil to operate, but did not mention the resumption of Druzhba flow, one of the refinery's two sources of oil.
Transpetrol, the Slovak pipeline operator, said the flow had already reached Slovakia, but could be further west into the Czech Republic. It said no pumping to the area was planned.
Representatives of the Czech Ministry of Industry and the State Pipeline Company could not be reached for comment.
Central Europe's worst-performing currency, the Hungarian forint, consolidated against the euro at 393.5 at 1439 GMT, up from a more than one-week low of 401.35 per euro, while MOL shares increased by 4.34%.
Russian gas flows to Europe were also disrupted following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February. flowing through Gas exports to Europe at 20% production capacityhttps://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-says-it-has-little-ability-help-with-nord-stream-1-repair-2022-08-01で稼働している、とロシア政府は述べている。 ($1 = €0.9651) (reported by Gergely Szakacs and Jan Lopatka, edited by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)
