MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Askume) – Russia’s Lukoil will resume supplying oil to Slovakia and Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline in October, sources said, after Hungary’s MOL agreed to supply oil to Belarus and Ukraine via the pipeline. Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday.
Sources said supplies would resume next month as exports for this month have already been planned and it would be difficult to readjust the quantities.
Lukoil (LKOH.MM) may adjust a small amount of funding this month, one of the people said , but that remains to be seen.
This summer, Kiev banned Lukoil supplies after adding Lukoil to its sanctions list , preventing its oil from being transported to Mitsui MOL (MOLB.BU) refineries in Hungary and Slovakia.
MOL said it would take ownership of crude oil transported along the Belarus-Ukraine border under a new agreement with suppliers and pipeline operators that took effect on Monday. Previously, Russian oil suppliers sold crude to Hungary on a FIP (free in pipeline) basis.
One of the sources said that MOL will bear all transportation and other costs from the Belarus-Ukraine border to its refinery. Previously, Russia had to pay for oil shipments through Ukraine, which caused a lot of trouble.
According to sources, Russia plans to ship 510,000 tonnes of oil to Slovakia and 360,000 tonnes to Hungary via Druzhba in September. MOL’s refinery in Slovakia plans to carry out maintenance on its sole crude oil distillation unit from September 23, which will reduce crude oil consumption.
Russia’s Tatneft and Rusneft are seen as the main crude oil suppliers to Slovakia and Hungary in September, sources said.
Russian oil is transported via the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which are not affected by the EU embargo on Russian oil due to limited opportunities for alternative oil supplies.
