Polish authorities have discovered a leak in one of the most important oil pipelines from Russia to Western Europe. It is more likely to be an accident than sabotage, it said in Warsaw.
Refinery in Gdansk, Poland, receiving oil from the Druzhba pipeline.
tsf. A leak was discovered late Tuesday evening in the Druzhba pipeline, which transports oil from Russia to Europe. Like the Polish pipeline operator Pern announced on Wednesday, one of the two strands of the western section of the pipeline is affected. The tube delivers crude oil to Germany. The damaged area is apparently about 70 kilometers from the Polish city of Płock. The cause of the damage is currently unknown, the statement said. The transport tube has been switched off. The second tube of the Druzhba pipeline works unchanged.
The rescue workers from Pern and the fire brigade had secured the area and are now examining the damage. Firefighters are on duty to pump out spilled oil, as reported by the Polish broadcaster TVP Info.
An overflow area of around 1000 square meters was created. Significant environmental damage is to be expected. It is also likely that gas will also flow out of the pipeline.
There is no reason to assume sabotage, said Beate in Warsaw, who is responsible for the energy infrastructure, in an initial statement to the Reuters news agency. He assumes an accident.
The Druzhba oil pipeline, whose name means “friendship” in Russian, is one of the largest in the world. It supplies a large part of Central Europe with Russian oil, including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.
According to a spokeswoman for the pipeline operator Mero, there has been no drop in delivery volumes in the Czech Republic.
The Druzhba pipeline: an important artery for Europe’s oil supply
The nervousness is very high after the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. A possible sabotage of the Druzhba oil pipeline caused the price of oil to rise by more than 1 percent.
NATO defense ministers will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to also discuss the security of critical infrastructure. NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg announced on Tuesday that infrastructure protection would be stepped up.