Oil supply from Russia: Leak in the Druzhba pipeline

The northern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which also supplies Germany, has a leak. It was discovered in Poland by the local operator PERN. The cause is unclear. The southern Druzhba line appears to be functioning normally.

A leak has occurred on one of two strands of the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia. The Polish pipeline operator PERN announced that it was discovered on Tuesday evening in a section about 70 kilometers from the central Polish city of Plock. The cause of the leak is unclear.

The Druzhba oil pipeline – the name means “friendship” – is one of the largest in the world and supplies Russian oil to large parts of Central Europe. In Belarus, the pipeline is divided into a southern and a northern branch. The northern one, where the leak was found, also supplies the east German refinery Schwedt, which is majority-owned by the Russian owner Rosneft.

Southern line works

The second line of the pipeline is said to be working normally. This also applies to other areas of the PERN infrastructure. “At this time, all PERN services (technical, operational, factory fire and environmental protection) act according to the algorithms provided for this type of situation,” the operator said.

A spokeswoman for the Czech pipeline operator MERO said that there have been no changes in flow rates so far. The southern strand runs through the Czech Republic. In the past few weeks, leaks have already occurred in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which also come from Russia.