KazTransOil says that Druzhba pipeline outages won’t hinder oil supplies to Germany

Exports of Kazakhstani oil to Germany are expected to stay on schedule / Photo: REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko, photo editor: Arthur Aleskerov

KazTransOil (KTO), a Kazakhstani pipeline company and a subsidiary of KazMunayGas, says that a short-term shutdown of the Druzhba pipeline will not impact Kazakhstan’s oil supplies to Germany, as reported by the Interfax news agency. The company also confirmed that oil supplies will proceed as initially scheduled.

«The oil shipment will be fulfilled according to the timeline adopted by the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan,» KTO said in a statement.

On Dec. 20, some media outlets reported that oil shipment to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline was suspended due to technical issues. The pipeline is used to transport Kazakhstani oil to Germany and Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

In 2023, KTO delivered 993,000 tons of Kazakhstani oil out of the 1.2 million tons planned via the Druzhba route. As a result, the pipeline is expected to deliver 49.8% more Kazakhstani oil in 2024 to make up for the shortfall in last year’s target.