Czech Republic to use expanded TAL pipeline in practice for first time, higher deliveries to arrive in April

The Czech Republic will for the first time make practical use of the newly expanded TAL pipeline. The first increased deliveries of non-Russian crude oil should arrive in the Czech Republic after a tanker is unloaded in the Italian port of Trieste in the second half of April. The country will thus be supplied primarily with oil via the western route through the TAL and IKL pipelines. This will replace halted oil supplies from Russia's Druzhba pipeline. State pipeline operator Mero announced this today.

Mero completed technical work on expanding the TAL pipeline at the end of last year and continued its testing and certification this year. The project, costing approximately CZK 1.6 billion, is intended to increase capacity for the Czech Republic by four million tonnes of oil annually, allowing up to eight million tonnes a year to be delivered to the country via the pipeline. According to the government, the Czech Republic could therefore completely cut itself off from Russian oil.

„Thanks to the TAL-Plus project, which our government pushed through, Russia can no longer blackmail us by cutting off oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline. The Czech Republic is now much stronger in terms of its energy independence. We have an alternative and can gradually move to full oil supplies exclusively via the western route through the TAL and IKL pipelines. This is already happening, which is why the halted supplies from the Druzhba pipeline do not pose any threat to our country,“ said Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS).

According to Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS), the first tanker carrying oil for Orlen Unipetrol's Litvínov refinery arrived in Trieste in recent days, and unloading will begin in the coming days.

„This week, the first tanker carrying oil from Norway for the Litvínov refinery arrived at the Italian port of Trieste. In approximately two weeks, the oil will be delivered to Litvínov through the TAL/IKL pipeline. At the same time, we are arranging supplies of further oil by tankers via sea,“ Orlen Unipetrol said today.

It stressed that supplies to both refineries are uninterrupted and production for the domestic market is secured.

Until the beginning of March this year, oil flowed into the Czech Republic from two main sources. One was the Druzhba pipeline from Russia. Its share of supplies amounted to 42 percent last year. Another portion of oil flows from Germany via the IKL pipeline, which connects to Italy's TAL pipeline.

Supplies through Druzhba have been halted since 4 March and have not yet resumed. The government therefore decided to provide a loan to refining company Orlen Unipetrol. Up to 330,000 tonnes of oil from emergency stocks will cover more than a month of refinery operations. The loan, which accounts for one-third of state reserves, is intended to ensure sufficient oil on the Czech market. The refineries began drawing oil from the reserves on 11 March. The company also said it was working to secure oil supplies via the western route.

The TAL pipeline starts in Trieste, where oil is imported from several countries and continents. The largest share comes from areas around the Caspian and Black Seas, the United States and Africa.