Czech oil pipeline operator Mero raised net profit by a tenth to CZK 788.3 million last year

State-controlled oil pipeline operator Mero increased its profit by nearly ten percent year on year to 788.3 million crowns last year. The company's revenue rose by 12 percent to 2.25 billion crowns, according to information published on the company's website. The company owns and operates the Czech section of the Druzhba pipeline and the IKL pipeline, and is also the only oil transporter to Czechia.

In 2022, 7.4 million tonnes of oil flowed to refineries in Czechia, around seven percent more year on year. Around 56 percent of last year's deliveries came from Russia. The IKL pipeline from Germany, which connects to the TAL pipeline, provides another route for oil supplies to Czechia.

Last week, the company announced that it had signed a contract to expand the capacity of the TAL pipeline, which transports oil to Czechia from Italy. The project, costing approximately 1.6 billion crowns, will increase the pipeline's capacity for Czechia by four million tonnes of oil a year from the start of 2025, the company said, making it possible to transport up to eight million tonnes a year to the country. Mero will pay for the pipeline expansion. According to the company, the expansion will end dependence on Russian oil.