One of the two lines of the Druzhba pipeline linking Russia to Germany has been closed following a leak detected in central Poland, Polish operator PERN announced on Wednesday. “The causes of the incident are not known at this time,” he said.
One of the two lines of the Druzhba pipeline linking Russia to Germany has been closed following a leak detected in central Poland, Polish operator PERN announced on Wednesday. “The causes of the incident are not known at this time – pumping in the damaged line was immediately stopped. Line 2 of the pipeline is operating normally,” PERN said in a statement, adding that the leak was detected Tuesday evening.
Druzhba is the main pipeline bringing Russian oil to Germany. “This part of the main pipeline carries crude for two German refineries: PCK Raffinerie GmbH Schwedt and TOTAL Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH in Spergau,” the PERN spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
5,500 kilometers long
“Relief action is underway. All services are on site,” added Katarzyna Krasinska, quoted by the PAP agency. The leak occurred near the village of Zurawice 180 km west of Warsaw. The Druzhba pipeline, whose name means “friendship”, began to be built in the early 1960s and today stretches over a network of 5,500 kilometers in length, transporting oil from the Urals to refineries in Poland, in Germany.
Another branch of Druzhba ships Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.