“Oil Via Other Routes”
Habeck: Schwedt refinery can be saved
05/09/2022 12:34 am
Although the refinery in Schwedt is completely dependent on Russian oil, Economics Minister Habeck sees a future for the company. In the short term, oil from other countries should be the solution. In the long term, however, the minister has other plans and speaks of a “refinery of the future”.
Immediately before his visit to the PCK refinery in Schwedt, Brandenburg, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck declared that he saw a future for the company, which was threatened by the planned oil embargo against Russia. “There is a good chance that the Schwedt refinery will be preserved, that we can supply it with oil through other means,” Habeck told Welt television.
These routes could lead via Rostock and Danzig. In cooperation with the port of Rostock, PCK could also develop “away from oil towards hydrogen” and thus become a “refinery of the future”. Habeck’s Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Kellner told the editorial network Germany: “We want to talk to the employees and make it clear that we will take all necessary steps to secure Schwedt in the short term.”
In the medium term, the aim is to support the switch to green hydrogen, biochemistry and the circular economy. “With a lot of green energy and excellently trained specialists, this can be achieved at the Schwedt site in particular,” says Kellner. Habeck and Kellner are expected in Schwedt on Monday for talks with the management and staff. The EU Commission is proposing to phase out Russian crude oil supplies for Germany and most other EU countries within six months.
The “Druschba” (Friendship) pipeline from Russia ends in Schwedt. The oil is processed at PCK, where around 1,200 people work, according to the Brandenburg state government. The refinery is controlled by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft and is seen as a core problem in preventing Germany from becoming more independent of Russian oil supplies. According to information from the editorial network Germany (RND), the group is preventing the conversion of the location. So far, Rosneft has blocked the production of green hydrogen. In order to change that, a change of ownership is considered indispensable.