Russia to increase oil pumping through Druzhba southern branch in June – Kommersant

Russia will increase oil supplies via the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline by 16% per day in June. This will happen because European refineries want to buy as much Russian oil as possible for fear of problems with transit through Ukraine. This was reported Reuters citing two sources.

According to the agency, the Hungarian MOL, which owns refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, is going to buy about 900,000 tons of Russian Urals oil in June against 750,000 tons in May. The Czech concern Unipetrol, owned by the Polish PKN Orlen, plans to purchase up to 430,000 tons of Urals in June against 400,000 tons in May.

In a conversation with Reuters, a MOL spokesman said that the company continues to buy oil for delivery through the Druzhba and Adria pipelines. PKN Orlen declined to comment on plans to purchase Russian oil.

Now deliveries via Druzhba are carried out only along the southern branch, which passes through the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. Earlier, Kyiv and Minsk proposed to raise transit tariffs, which would increase the cost of oil for European buyers.

The pumping of Russian oil through the northern branch was actually stopped after Poland and Germany refused to purchase energy carriers. Now, small volumes of Kazakh oil are supplied through the branch.

Read more about the requirements of Kyiv and Minsk – in the material “Kommersant” Friendship shakes losses.

Olesya Pavlenko