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Oil supplies from Russia to the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline resumed early on Friday, Czech refiner ORLEN Unipetrol said, after flows were interrupted earlier this week.
“Oil supplies were restored this morning and oil is flowing again through the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic,” Unipetrol’s chief executive Mariusz Wnuk said in a post of the company on X.
Oil is currently flowing at normal levels, said Wnuk.
On Tuesday, supply via the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic was halted. Unipetrol, which is a subsidiary of Poland’s Orlen, is not aware of the reason for the interruption of supply, a spokesperson said on Thursday.
Czech state pipeline operator Mero said on Wednesday that it “is aware of the complications regarding the supply of crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic and is monitoring the situation.”
Mero has said there is no threat to the Czech Republic’s crude oil supply as the country is prepared for such situations.
The state pipeline operator said last month that the Czech Republic would phase out Russian oil imports by July 2025. Currently, Trans Alpine (TAL) pipeline is undergoing an upgrade, which is expected to be completed next year. The upgrade will boost oil supply to the Czech Republic from Italy.
The Druzhba pipeline carries Russian crude to Central Europe. The pipeline is a key artery of oil supply from Russia to Europe, with two branches – a northern one via Belarus that supplies Belarus, Poland, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania, and a southern one passing through Ukraine and sending oil to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia.
Flows through the Druzhba pipeline were exempted from the EU embargo on imports of Russian crude oil by sea that came into effect on December 5, 2022. The EU has exempted pipeline oil flows to landlocked EU member states from the ban.
