Because Russian oil no longer comes to the PCK refinery in Brandenburg via pipeline, a replacement is needed. Oil is already coming via Rostock and Danzig. Deliveries are also planned from Kazakhstan.
Negotiations on the supply of crude oil from Kazakhstan for the PCK refinery in Brandenburg after the abandonment of Russian oil are still ongoing. “Further negotiations have to be conducted,” said a spokesman for PCK co-shareholder Rosneft Germany of the German Press Agency. “The talks were satisfactory.” They certainly give cause for optimism. However, details, for example on the transmission, would still have to be discussed.
Following a decision by the federal government, no Russian oil has flowed through the Druzhba pipeline to the PCK refinery in Schwedt since January. Alternatively, deliveries can be made via the ports of Rostock and Gdansk. According to PCK, the refinery is currently operating at around 60 percent capacity. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the capacity can increase to around 70 percent in January and February thanks to an admixture and quantities from Poland and Kazakhstan. According to PCK, nine out of ten cars in Berlin and Brandenburg run on fuel from Schwedt.
Kazakhstan “good solution”
Rosneft Germany relies on oil from Kazakhstan. “We think potentially that Kazakhstan is a good solution because you can ensure that PCK can continue to be supplied with a lot of crude oil,” the spokesman said. If PCK is to be managed properly – even beyond the expected 70 percent – all three options for the oil are necessary. According to the government, Kazakhstan has received permission from Russia to use the Russian pipeline infrastructure to export oil to Germany.
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) had criticized that the 70 percent capacity utilization of the refinery promised by the federal government had not yet been identified. In a special meeting of a working group on February 20, he calls for information. The Parliamentary Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Michael Kellner (Greens) had rejected the criticism and explained in a letter to Woidke that the refinery had oil available for a capacity utilization of around 70 percent in January.
Rosneft Germany and the affiliated RN Refining & Marketing hold a majority stake in the Schwedt refinery. For a long time, the two subsidiaries of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft had shown no interest in turning away from Russian oil. That is why the federal government effectively withdrew control of PCK from them last year by means of trusteeship. The refinery is to be converted in the medium term in order to be energy independent.
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Source: Stern
