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FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Russia resumes oil flow to Hungary and Slovakia via Druzhba
EUROPE
Hungary reportedly covered the cost.
RUSSIAN oil pipeline operator Transneft says it has restarted pumping oil through the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline on August 10, after the pipeline was closed down a day earlier in a payment dispute, the spokesman for the com- pany Igor Dyomin told PRIME.
“The pumping units were switched on at 4:00 p.m., the operating pressure will be reached in 15 minutes,” he said, reported Prime.
The disruption in oil flow via the southern leg of Russia’s Druzhba (which means “friendship” in Russian) oil pipeline system that runs through Ukraine will put further pressure on European energy markets, which are already grappling with soaring costs and the risk of fuel shortages. The cut-off will hit the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia hardest, as they rely heavily on imports via the Druzhba pipeline.
The oil flow was stopped because Transneft claimed that its Ukrainian counterpart Ukr- transnafta had been unable to receive transit fees
due to Western sanctions. Transneft sent the fees, but Ukrtransnafta sent it back.
Dyomin now confirms that Ukraine had con- firmed having received the payment for Russian oil transit.
The payment was reportedly made by one of Transneft’s key regional customers, Hungarian partly state-owned oil and gas company MOL.
Earlier, MOL and its Slovak unit Slovnaft had agreed with Ukraine on resumption of oil sup- plies, reported Slovakian TV channel TAZ.
“The Ukrainian side has reacted positively to Slovnaft and MOL’s proposal to pay the costs of oil supplies via the southern line of the Dru- zhba pipeline. Refinery Slovnaft has already paid the Ukrainian side and expects that it will help resume oil pumping in a few days,” the channel reported.
MOL paid for transit of Russian oil across Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline, Reuters reported, citing the company.
Novatek mulls Turkish power solution for Arctic LNG-2 following Baker Hughes’ exit
RUSSIA
Baker Hughes reportedly started recalling engineers and cancelling equipment deliveries to LNG sites in Russia in June.
RUSSIA’S Novatek is planning to use a floating power plant supplied by Turkey’s Karpowership at the first train of the Arctic LNG-2 plant instead of onshore-based Baker Hughes power turbines, after the US supplier wound down its Russian operations in June, Kommersant reported on August 10.
The company intends to order a 300-400 MW floating station from Karpowership, which has deployed similar vessels along the coast of Africa. But sources told Kommersant it was diffi- cult to determine how quickly the plant would be supplied and installed. Karpowership operates some 4 GW of floating power stations in total, positioned in eight countries in Africa, Cuba, the Middle East and Indonesia.
Arctic LNG-2’s three 6.6mn tonne-per-year liquefaction trains are due to come online in 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to the offi- cial schedule. But delays are considered likely given that a number of financiers, contractors and suppliers have ended their involvement in the project in the wake of Moscow’s invasion
of Ukraine.
Baker Hughes had been contracted to supply
around 20 LM9000 turbines to cover the power needs of Arctic LNG-2’s three trains, with capac- ities of up to 75 MW. Seven alone were ordered for the first train. While the provision of gas tur- bines to Russia is not directly prohibited under EU and US sanctions, a fifth package of sanc- tions introduced by Brussels on April 8 bans the supply of equipment for gas liquefaction projects like Arctic LNG-2.
In any case, Baker Hughes was reported to be recalling its engineers from Russian LNG plants in June, including Arctic LNG-2, and the oper- ational Sakhalin-2 and Yamal LNG facilities. At the same time it ceased the supply of equipment to Arctic LNG-2. Earlier this month Kommer- sant reported that Baker Hughes intended to sell its Russian business to local management.
Baker Hughes is joining other major US con- tractors including Weatherford International, Halliburton and Schlumberger in scaling back in Russia.
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