The leakage of half a million liters of oil near Sisak stopped the transport of Janaf, on which the supply of the Refinery in Pancevo depends. NIS has requested access to state reserves, and experts warn that a longer interruption could stop production at the Refinery
After the leak of half a million liters of oil near Sisak, Adriatic Oil Pipeline (Janaf) suspended the transportation of energy products until the beginning of December.
Janaf is the only route by which crude oil reaches by sea, via the Omišalj terminal on Krk Refineries in Pančevo. What can Serbia expect now?
Serbia is a country with extremely high energy dependence – it imports about 80 percent of the crude oil it processes, and domestic production covers only the remaining 20 percent.
As the repair of Janaf dragged on, Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) requested the Government of Serbia in a technical mandate to allow it to use crude oil from state reserves, as well as diesel from operational reserves. NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom and under US sanctions, supplies around 70 percent of the Serbian market, while the remaining 30 percent of oil derivatives are imported.
The public began to fear a shortage of oil, but experts say that there is no reason to panic, because Serbia has oil reserves for about 60 days.
Energy expert Miloš Zdravković tells "Vreme" that he expects the problem at Janaf to be resolved very quickly.
"What happened was simply force majeure. Croats are also looking at their own economic interests, so they will repair the damage as soon as possible. And the biggest consumer of Janaf is the Serbian Oil Industry," says Zdravković.
He does not believe that this failure will affect price growth, as it is a short-term problem.
We remind you that after the European Union banned the import of Russian crude oil by sea as part of the package of sanctions against Russia, Serbia had to reorient itself to the procurement of Iraqi and other types of oil, which are supplied by Janaf. And because of the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the price of oil has risen dramatically this year.
"The oil reserves we have are sufficient for a short period of time. Without a stable inflow via Janaf, the Refinery is doomed to closure. The alternative to trains and barges is economically unprofitable," says Zdravković.
According to unofficial information from N1, the Refinery in Pancevo was already forced to reduce the volume of production of oil derivatives, and the technical services are allegedly preparing for a complete shutdown of the plant.
NIS says that they are carefully monitoring the situation and that they currently have sufficient stocks of petroleum products.
As they state, NIS gas stations are regularly supplied with all types of fuel, and the company is in constant contact with the competent state authorities and representatives of Janaf in order to overcome the problem. NIS points out that it continuously adjusts the work of the Pancevo Oil Refinery in accordance with the information it receives from its partners.
The complete suspension of crude oil transportation by Janaf occurred on November 6, after an accident on the pipeline on the section between Sisak and Slavonski Brod, during which about 500.000 liters of oil leaked from the system.
Thousands of square meters of land were contaminated.
The oil pipeline was damaged during the revitalization work carried out by an external contractor.
Janaf announced that under strictly controlled conditions and in a closed system, the collection of oil remaining in the damaged pipe began. Janaf explained that only after the pipe is completely emptied will work on the physical rehabilitation of the pipeline begin. The cleaning of the environment continues in parallel with the works.
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