According to Polish operator PERN, a leak has occurred in Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline. This was discovered on Tuesday night, the company announced Wednesday. It was discovered on a section of the line about 70 kilometers from the central Polish city of Plock.
According to the latest information, the leak is probably not due to sabotage. The cause is more likely to be accidental damage, Mateusz Berger, a government official responsible for the infrastructure, told Portal news agency.
According to a report by the Interfax news agency, Russian state pipeline operator Transneft said it had been informed by Polish operator PERN about a leak in the pipeline. It was not said how long a repair would take. Transneft continues to pump oil to Poland.
The Druzhba pipeline is one of the largest in the world, supplying Russian oil to much of central Europe, including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. The name of the pipeline means “friendship” in Russian. It also supplies the East German refinery Schwedt, which is majority-owned by Russian owner Rosneft. Germany no longer wants to use Russian oil from the end of the year.
The second line of the pipeline is said to be working normally. This also applies to other areas of the PERN infrastructure. “Right now, all PERN services (technical, operational, factory firefighters and environmental protection) work according to the algorithms provided for this type of situation,” said the operator. A spokeswoman for Czech pipeline operator MERO said no changes in flows to the Czech Republic had been identified so far.
Continuous gas leaks from leaks in Nord Stream pipelines
Meanwhile, gas leaks from damaged Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea are lasting longer than previously thought. Previously, many experts had expected the gas leak to end by the weekend, but it has now escalated to one point. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced a joint investigation group from Germany, Sweden and Denmark to investigate the blasts.
As the gas dried up elsewhere, the bubbling area in one of two places in the Swedish economic zone has increased from 15 to 30 meters, the local coast guard announced on Monday. This is a leak in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The initially larger exit point on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, where gas came out of the water in an area 100 meters in diameter on Sunday, is no longer closed.
Large amounts of gas continuously escaped for days from the four leaks in the two pipelines. Two leaks are in Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone, two in Denmark.
Group of researchers from Germany, Denmark and Sweden
Danish authorities had already announced over the weekend that they believe the gas in the pipelines has run dry. The responsible Danish authority announced on Twitter that operator Nord Stream AG informed them that the pressure in the pipes had stabilised. The Russian state-owned company confirmed this on Monday. Therefore, a complete drying of the gas stream was also expected in the Swedish economic zone. Initially, it was unclear why the gas continued to bubble.
The exact cause of the leaks is still unknown. Western states take on sabotage. At least two explosions took place underwater, Denmark and Sweden announced last week. The seismological institutes measured a force of 2.3 and 2.1, which “probably corresponds to an explosive charge of several hundred kilograms”.
According to Interior Minister Faeser, a joint investigative group of experts from Germany, Denmark and Sweden must address the causes of the leaks. “Now we want to form a joint investigation team – a joint investigation team under EU law, to which the three states will send investigators,” the SPD politician told Bild am Sonntag. Specialists from the navy, police and intelligence services must work together here.
Faeser also announced maritime controls with neighboring countries Poland, Denmark and Sweden. “We patrol the seas in close coordination with each other. We are showing as much presence as possible,” she said. All available Federal Police ships would be used for this. She made a similar statement in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung.”
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said on the ARD “Tagesthemen” that the investigative group would not just talk about clarification. It’s also about “what protection can we offer and how can we get involved with the German Navy”. The federal government will make proposals for this. But they are talking about “very, very long distances”.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) considers it possible, in principle, for the German Attorney General to also investigate. The blast sites are in the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden, but the tubes lead from Russia to Germany. If the suspicion is confirmed, it will mainly be about cooperation with other countries, especially the EU, Buschmann told Bild am Sonntag. “The aim would be to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice in Germany.” Unconstitutional sabotage carries a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.
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