Poland cut off from Russian oil

The Russian Transneft company has broken off crude oil deliveries through Belarus for its partners in Western Europe, including Poland.
After an initial several hour break, Russian oil deliveries to Poland through Belarus have been stopped completely on Monday. Consequently, Germany fell victim to the same situation. Moscow explained the necessity of the move stemming from information that oil from the 'Friendship' pipeline had been illegally syphoned by the Belarusian side. However, the southern section of the pipeline linking the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary has also been closed, depriving these countries of Russian oil deliveries as well.

The European Commission has expressed concern with the present developments. Its spokesman Ferran Taradellas has demanded explanations to the sudden stop in oil deliveries to Union member countries, which are not a party to the conflict between Moscow and Minsk.

' The Commission is following the situation very closely. I can confirm there has been an interruption of oil supplies in Poland and my services are looking for information whether such a cut has had an impact on other branches of the pipeline, for instance, the one which goes to Slovakia and south-east Europe. I have also contacted Russian and Belarusian authorities calling on them to provide urgent and detailed explanation of the causes of this disruption.'

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the Russian conflict with Belarus over tarrifs is a warning for Poland and other European importers of Russian oil to actively search for possibilities of creating a secure and flexible system of energy raw materials deliveries.

' I hope the 700 page European Commission document on energy security, which I haven't studied in detail yet, outlines EU policy in this respect with serious consideration of the challenges faced.'

Polish refineries responded to the surprise Russian imports cut off without panic, having reserves for eighty days of production demand. So far, they have pledged to maintain retail prices for their fuels. Quick moves have also been introduced to avert further danger of inadequate supplies by contracting sea transport from the Gulf region, but oil from Arab sources will cost more. And this might prove a handy argument to raise prices after all, simply taking advantage of the extraordinary situation, warns Tomasz Chmal from the Sobieski Institute, a body specializing in independent market analysis.

' The prices of oil in short term contracts may go up, influencing costs. It remains to be hoped that Polish companies will be able to cope with this problem.'

The problem with Russian oil deliveries comes on the heels of a gas imports crisis of barely a few weeks ago. Krzysztof Bobinski, editor of the Union and Poland magazine, says these examples clearly show it is high time to start practically implementing Polish declarations of diversification of energy import sources, however, some sober conclusions must be taken into consideration.

' What Russia seems to be doing is trying to get what they feel are fair prices out of countries which they percieve as conducive to their own interests. There really hasn't been any significant conflict between Russia and Belarus. Indeed, they are trying to get more money. So I think we should look at this to see what the Russians are doing themselves and what they are trying to achieve. Then we should sit down with the Russians and the European Union and work out a system where we could be sure of energy supplies. That is absolutely possible, but the main problem for the moment is that Germany doesn't want to work together with everyone else.'

The inevitable conclusion from the various conflicts over energy sources and sales, no matter what aspects or countries they may concern, is that neither side can afford to disregard its actual or even potential partners. It's a simple relation of money and merchandise. Having exclussively one or the other does not satisfy anyone.
Source:polskieradio.pl