According to the operating company, no Russian oil has flowed through Ukraine to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline since Thursday. Deliveries were halted after a bank transaction was rejected over Western sanctions against Russia, Russia’s state-owned company Transneft said on Tuesday. This increases concerns about a further shortage of resources.
Russian pipeline monopolist Transneft blames Ukraine for the supply stoppage: “In fact, Ukrtransnafta (a Ukrainian company) completed pumping oil to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline stopped at 06:10 on August 4. Transneft reported according to the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
However, only the southern line of the pipeline is affected – the northern line through Poland to Germany remains unchanged. There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
Fear of scarcity returns
The line mainly supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This is not good news for Eastern European buyer countries if this failure continues. For the oil price, the uncertainty factor “fear of shortages” is returning. For days, the market has only feared a global recession, causing the oil price to fall sharply.
At the end of May, the EU agreed on an embargo on Russian oil. According to the sixth package of sanctions adopted at the end of May, the import ban for crude oil will take effect on December 5 this year and that for oil products on February 5, 2023. Temporary exemptions apply to individual countries.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
