Photo: TanjugThe Serbian oil company NIS is struggling to get oil from traders abroad. In Serbia, its former clients are looking for alternative fuel suppliers because US sanctions pending activation have already affected business, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
NIS is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom and as such it is one of the last remaining ruskih of oil operations in Europe and at the same time a key company for Serbia's energy security. It supplies about 80 percent of gasoline and diesel in Serbia and 90 percent or more of jet fuel and fuel oil, according to Reuters, as reported by New economy.
But the recent travails of NIS are already an indication of what could happen if US sanctions take effect.
Tender cancelled
NIS, which usually buys oil through long-term contracts, canceled the 2025 tender, according to its procurement website.
Instead, NIS is making short-term purchases in the spot market from international trading houses that are still willing to do business with NIS, two sources told Reuters. NIS's changes in crude oil procurement were previously unreported.
NIS announced that it had recently successfully concluded an oil purchase agreement in accordance with the exemption and that it is sourcing crude from multiple suppliers. They did not provide further details.
"The company is adapting its business activities to the new circumstances," they said.
NIS' oil imports through the Croatian port of Omišalj, from where it is further transported to Serbia via the JANAF pipeline, have averaged around 28.000 barrels per day this year, according to global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler.
That's significantly less than 40.000 barrels per day in 2024 and 70.000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, fuel suppliers OMV of Austria and Greek-owned Eko are now importing key transportation fuels for their retail networks in Serbia instead of buying fuel from NIS, the companies told Reuters. This move has not been previously reported.
OMV imports fuel on Danube barges from its other European refineries, the company said, while Eko supplies products from Greece, a company official said, asking not to be named.
Both companies have suspended fuel purchases from NIS due to US sanctions, they said.
Such imports could hardly cover Serbia's diesel demand of 44.000-49.000 barrels per day and gasoline consumption of 14.000 barrels per day due to limited capacity and infrastructure for barges, wagons and trucks, said a Serbian fuel trader.
NIS told Reuters that they are "ready to fulfill all contractual obligations, including those with corporate clients and large customers such as other oil companies", adding that the Pancevo oil refinery is operating normally.
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