Transneft halted oil shipments to Poland due to unpaid bills, according to Igor Demin, a representative of the Russian company, speaking to TASS.
Transneft delivers oil abroad under an export plan approved by the Russian Ministry of Energy and the orders set by shippers. The schedule anticipated pumping to Polish refineries during the last ten days of February. Yet orders with verified sources and payments for transit were not issued. Additionally, changes were made to the operational program that removed deliveries to Polish consumers. As a result, oil was not transported to Poland by Transneft, the representative noted.
On February 25, Daniel Obaitek, head of the Polish oil company Orlen, wrote on social media that Poland had stopped buying Russian oil. He stated that Poland was fully prepared to halt deliveries and that only a small share of raw materials came from Russia. He also indicated that details about new oil suppliers would be shared at a conference on February 28.
Ridiculous Theatre
On December 2, 2022, Aleksandr Novak, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, commented on reports that Poland requested Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline next year. Novak described Warsaw’s actions as theatrical absurdity. He later neither confirmed nor denied the information about Poland seeking Druzhba access, which had been reported by a major business daily based on a Russian source. The report was later corroborated in Poland. The newspaper noted that Orlen had asked Transneft for the passage of three million tons of Russian oil through the northern Druzhba branch in 2023. Transneft’s deputy head, Sergey Andronov, confirmed the existence of the application but did not specify the volume. Orlen confirmed the information and clarified that it was a technical notice of request in case contracts remained binding for PKN Orlen.
Since March 2022, Orlen has largely refused spot purchases while continuing long term contracts with Tatneft and Rosneft. Tatneft contracts amount to about 2.4 million tons per year until 2024, and Rosneft contracts total about 3.6 million tons per year through January and February 2023. Under the Rosneft agreement, roughly 0.6 million tons could be delivered to Poland within two months, and together with Tatneft this adds up to about 3 million tons annually. By December 2022, Orlen had reduced its Russian oil dependence to around 30 percent and increased imports from Saudi Arabia and Norway.
Poland’s Refusal of Russian Federation Oil
Bloomberg reported on February 3 that Warsaw planned to cut Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline from 500,000 tons in January to 220,000 tons in February. Orlen later claimed it would buy about 90 percent of its oil from alternative suppliers, though it did not specify which companies or delivery methods would be used.
In December, the European Union imposed an embargo on offshore shipments of Russian oil that had been reaching Europe through the Druzhba pipeline. The northern branch of the pipeline carries oil to Germany via Poland. On February 16, the European Commission said that oil imports from Russia to the EU had fallen by around 90 percent overall. In November 2022, Bloomberg reported that Poland pressed for sanctions on the northern Druzhba branch to gain a legal basis for contract termination and to avoid penalties from Russian suppliers.
The only EU member states still purchasing Russian oil through the northern Druzhba branch are Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, which receive oil via the southern Druzhba route.
All references in this article are drawn from public industry reports and statements by corporate and government officials recorded in news coverage. Attribution: Bloomberg, Kommersant, and official company statements are cited to provide context and cross-check details for readers seeking a fuller understanding of the evolving energy-transport landscape in Europe.