According to Russian information, Kazakhstan wants to book even more pipeline capacity to transport oil to the East German refinery Schwedt. That also needs to be approved. In Austria, 38.9 percent of all crude oil imports in 2021 came from Kazakhstan.
The OMV refinery in Schwechat already sources a large part of its crude oil from Kazakhstan. Now more oil has to be transported to Germany. KazTransOil of Kazakhstan has applied for an additional capacity of 1.2 million tons for 2023 on the Druzhba pipeline, Russian operator Transneft said.
The Russian leadership is ready to allow this. “We are normal about this, and if some of the Kazakh oil from Ust-Luga is diverted to the Druzhba, then that is normal,” Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday. Formally, an application must be submitted and approved by the Russian Ministry of Energy.
Russia is still involved
The German Schwedt refinery, which is supplied with Russian oil from the Rosneft group, is connected to the Druzhba oil pipeline. From January, however, the neighboring country no longer wants to purchase Russian oil. Instead, the federal government relies on deliveries through Rostock, Poland and Kazakhstan. However, Russia is still involved in this. For example, Kazakhstan must rely on Russian infrastructure or bring the raw material by sea to Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea. In this case, the pipelines in Turkey or Georgia would be involved.
In addition, Rosneft has a majority stake in the Schwedt Refinery, with a German trusteeship due in the fall. Eastern Germany is supplied with petrol and other refinery products, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport and parts of western Poland, among other things.
Source: Krone
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