Mero: Czech oil supplies are not at risk, deliveries from Italy to increase next year

Oil supplies to Czechia continue without restrictions, state-owned pipeline operator Mero said. It was responding to reports that Ukraine wants to halt the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline from next year. Mero is currently continuing work to expand the TAL pipeline from Italy, which is intended to replace supplies from Russia. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. The state-owned company told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today.

The Russian-Ukrainian agreement on transporting oil to Europe expires at the beginning of next year. Some Ukrainian media reported today that, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Kyiv does not intend to renew it.

„Oil supplies to Czechia are not restricted in any way,“ Mero said today.

The company noted that technical work to increase the capacity of the TAL pipeline from Trieste, Italy, is currently in full swing. The project, costing around 1.6 billion crowns, is expected to increase capacity for Czechia by four million tonnes of oil per year from 2025, allowing up to eight million tonnes to be delivered to the country annually through the pipeline. The pipeline expansion is intended to free the Czech Republic from dependence on Russian oil.

Work is progressing according to schedule, Mero spokeswoman Barbora Putzová said. „We are currently replacing pumps, motors and other components in Italy, Austria and Germany. In recent months, as part of this project, we have also installed new, higher-capacity pipelines at the Central Oil Tank Farm in Nelahozeves,“ she said.

The company will be ready to increase transport capacity by the end of this year, when all technological modifications are complete, she said. „Further necessary steps will then follow, such as installing backup pumps, conducting operational tests and obtaining certification. Czechia could stop using Russian oil in the first half of 2025,“ Putzová added.

Czech special envoy for energy security Václav Bartuška also does not see a potential halt to Russian oil supplies to Czechia through the Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine as a problem. Bartuška told Reuters today that this would not be the first time Ukraine had warned of a possible halt. He said it remained to be seen what would happen.

Oil currently reaches Czechia from two main sources. Of the 7.4 million tonnes of oil imported last year, around 58 percent arrived via the Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia. The rest arrives via the German IKL pipeline, which connects to the Italian TAL pipeline.