Oil pipeline to Germany partly shut after leak found in Poland

The Druzhba oil pipeline linking Russia and Germany has been partly shut after a leak was discovered in Poland, the Polish operator Pern said on Wednesday.

“The cause of the incident is not known for the moment. Pumping in the affected line was immediately stopped. Line 2 of the pipeline is functioning normally,” the operator said.

The German government said oil deliveries were continuing to two key refineries, despite the leak. “Germany’s security of supply is currently guaranteed … Deliveries are uninterrupted,” the economy ministry said in a statement.

The incident comes after four leaks were discovered in the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany. The pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against western sanctions after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The leak on an underground segment of the Druzhba pipeline was detected late on Tuesday near the village of Żurawice about 110 miles to the west of Warsaw.

A Pern spokesperson, Katarzyna Krasińska, told AFP that firefighters were pumping out the spilled oil, “which could take several hours”.

The Russian oil pipeline operator, Transneft, said its Polish counterpart had notified it of the leak. “Yes, we received a message … We have no information as to how long it will take to repair the damage,” the Transneft vice-president, Sergei Andronov, said, according to the Interfax news agency. “From their end at the moment, oil continues to be accepted,” he added.

The pipeline mainly supplies two refineries in Schwedt and Leuna in Germany. The Schwedt refinery, which is close to the Polish border and supplies 90% of the oil consumed in Berlin and the surrounding region, including Berlin-Brandenburg international airport, is the subject of a dispute over its management and control.

Poland has said it will stop supplying the refinery, which is majority owned by Rosneft, unless the Russian firm is removed as a shareholder.

Last month, the German government said it had taken control of the refinery – and the other German operations of Rosneft – to secure energy supplies. It put Rosneft Deutschland under a trusteeship of the German industry regulator, but Rosneft still holds 54% of the company’s shares.

Schwedt previously received most of its crude from Russia, and Berlin is now looking to other countries for supplies.

The Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline network was started in the 1960s and covers 3.400 miles, pumping oil from the Urals to Europe through two main branches via Belarus and Ukraine.

After the Nord Stream leaks, Nato said on Tuesday that it had bolstered naval deployments to protect its infrastructure in the Baltic and North seas and called the incidents an act of “sabotage”.

Also on Tuesday, G7 leaders said in a statement they were “deeply troubled” by the Nord Stream leaks and “strongly condemn any deliberate disruption of critical infrastructure”.