For months there have been talks of increasing deliveries of crude oil from Kazakhstan for the refinery in Schwedt. An important agreement is announced during a state visit by the Federal President.
The PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, is to receive 100,000 tons of crude oil from Kazakhstan every month by the end of 2024. A corresponding agreement between the German and Kazakh sides was reached during the state visit of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Central Asian country. With the long-term supply, the utilization of the refinery will increase by about ten percentage points, according to the information.
In a joint press conference with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Steinmeier welcomed the additional deliveries. This secures the future of the Schwedt location and thus also the fuel supply in East Germany. “This is good news for Schwedt and good news for energy security in Germany.”
The PCK refinery supplies Berlin and large parts of north-eastern Germany with fuel. Until the end of 2022, it mainly processed crude oil from Russia. In the course of the sanctions against Russia because of the war of aggression against Ukraine, the German government decided not to use Russian oil. Since then, other sources of supply and new delivery routes have been sought. Kazakhstan has already stepped in with deliveries several times in the past few months.
reactions from politics
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) responded with satisfaction to the agreement. “This will significantly stabilize our PCK in Schwedt. It also gives people in the region security,” he said. Brandenburg’s Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD), who was there in Kazakhstan, tweeted that it was the first long-term supply contract for the refinery in the Uckermark.
The Left Party parliamentarian from Brandenburg, Christian Görke, described the agreement as a “milestone”. The Kazakh oil not only ensures higher capacity utilization, but also the technically smooth process and the production of bitumen. Görke now also called for talks about a Kazakh entry into the PCK. “As an oil-producing country and with great ambitions when it comes to hydrogen, Kazakhstan would be the ideal partner for strategic cooperation in the upcoming transformation.”
Large oil and gas deposits in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan has large deposits of oil and gas as well as raw materials such as rare earths. Not least because of the vastness of the country, it is also considered a good location for wind power and solar systems. Kazakhstan is almost eight times the size of Germany, but with a good 19 million people it has less than a quarter of the population. The common border with Russia is around 7,600 kilometers long, and that with China is almost 1,800 kilometers. The country is ruled authoritarian. International observers see deficiencies in the freedom of the press, expression and assembly.
The Central Asian state is also suspected of circumventing EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine war. That was an issue during Steinmeier’s visit. The Federal President then said: “We must make every effort to prevent the sanctions from being overturned.” Kazakh President Tokayev assured: “We are adhering to the sanctions.”
Source: Stern
