“Friendship” (Druzhba) With Europe has Grown Thanks to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia
Pipelines still remain the only, but vulnerable, channel for delivering Russian oil to Europe.
Against the background of the embargo imposed by the EU on the supply of Russian oil by sea, the Druzhba (Transneft) pipeline remained the only source of oil from Russia for Europe. According to Vedomosti (Vasily MILKIN), it was Hungary and the Czech Republic that increased supplies the most.
Deliveries of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline going to the EU through Ukraine increased by 7% in 2022, Vedomosti writes, citing sources familiar with the statistics of the Ministry of Energy.
According to them, 38.4 million tons were delivered. Most of all, deliveries increased to Hungary (by 45% to 4.9 million tons) and the Czech Republic (by 25% to 4.2 million tons). Also, growth was shown by exports to Poland (by 6% to 8.9 million tons) and Slovakia (by 0.3% to 5.2 million tons). Imports fell only to Germany, by 2% to 15.1 million tons.
Russia managed to restore the physical indicators of oil production and supplies after a decline in the spring of 2022, which occurred against the backdrop of the West’s refusal to buy Russian energy resources.
Recovery was mainly due to the redirection of exports from Europe to Asia – to India, China, Turkey. In particular, deliveries to India set a new record in December: they grew by a quarter compared to November.
Deliveries to the West began to decline due to the refusal of the US, Canada and the UK to buy Russian oil. In December last year, a European embargo on offshore supplies of Russian oil came into force, as well as a price ceiling of $60 per barrel. According to Argus Media, even before that, offshore oil supplies from Russia to the EU had significantly decreased: from 85% in January to 24% in September (we are talking about the shares in the total volume of offshore deliveries of the Urals reference grade).
The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Moscow plans to maintain the volume of oil pumped through the pipeline in 2023. According to it, Kazakhstan will also supply oil to Europe: the Ministry of Energy of the republic reported a verbal agreement with Russia on the supply of Kazakh oil via the Druzhba to Germany.
Transneft reported in December 2022 that it had received applications for deliveries from Warsaw and Berlin for 2023.
