Hungary is releasing oil from its strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply after Russian crude flows via the Druzhba pipeline stopped at the end of last month.
The Hungarian government will release 250,000 tons of crude oil from the country’s strategic reserves, with domestic oil company MOL having priority access to the commodity, according to a government decree published in the official gazette.
At the end of January, Druzhba, the pipeline that carries Russian crude to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, was damaged in what Ukraine said was a Russian drone attack.
Supplies of Russian oil to the last two remaining EU member states dependent on Russian crude flows via Druzhba have been halted since January 27.
Both Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of stalling the repairs needed to resume flows via the Druzhba pipeline for political reasons.
Hungary, whose top officials have remained in contact with Russia’s leadership including Vladimir Putin, has continuously clashed with its fellow EU member states over plans to ditch Russian gas by 2027 and cut off oil supply from Moscow as soon as possible.
Slovakia has also kept ties with Moscow.
The two EU member states are coordinating a joint response to the halted oil supply that could include cutting electricity and gas supplies to Ukraine, Hungary said earlier this week.
“We are also considering the option of stopping power and gas shipments towards Ukraine,” Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said.
Earlier this week, European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said “We are in contact with Ukraine on the timeline for reparation of the Druzhba oil pipeline and how quickly this might be up and running.”
The EU executive is ready to call an emergency coordination group with relevant parties to discuss alternative routes to fuel supply, Itkonen told journalists in Brussels.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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