Page 4 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2024

4 I Companies & Markets bne December 2024
The completion of the TAL pipeline expansion will enable Czechia to acquire oil without having to resort to Russian deliveries. / bne IntelliNews
TAL pipeline expansion nears finish, offering Czech Republic a future free of Russian oil
bne IntelliNews
The project aimed at replacing Russian crude is being achieved in “an incredibly short period,” the CEO of the Czech Republic’s state oil pipeline operator told NewsBase.
WHAT: An expansion of the TAL pipeline is nearing completion.
WHY: The project will allow the Czech Republic to end its dependency on Russian oil.
WHAT NEXT: Preparation work to start flow should wrap up within the first half of 2025.
The Czech Republic is on course to end its 60-year dependence on Russian crude imports next year as major technical upgrades to the Transalpine Oil Pipeline (TAL) near completion.
www.bne.eu
Known as TAL-PLUS, the project will double the country’s import capacity from the west and allow it to fully meet annual oil demand of around 8mn tonnes (160,000 barrels per day). It will mark the end of Russian crude deliveries to the EU member state via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline system, one of the world’s longest oil corridors.
“Work on the TAL-PLUS project is proceeding according to the time schedule, and we believe that by the end of this year, the TAL crude oil pipeline will be fully technically ready to increase the volume of transported crude oil,” said Jaroslav Pantůček, chairman and CEO of Mero ČR, the Czech Republic’s state-owned oil pipeline company, in an interview with NewsBase.
Work began earlier this year on upgrading the pipeline’s pumps, motors and controlling systems to boost flow from