German refinery to process South American crude following Kazakh supply suspension

Germany’s PCK refinery in Schwedt will receive South American crude oil supplied by Poland-based energy group Unimot. The shipment follows the suspension of Kazakh crude deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline earlier this year, Unimot said in a news release.

In July, Polish energy supplier Unimot Paliwa imported a seaborne shipment of South American crude oil to Gdansk. The oil was then transported to the PCK refinery in Schwedt via PERN’s pipeline infrastructure.

The refinery in Schwedt supplies about 90% of the gasoline, diesel and heating oil consumed in Berlin and Brandenburg, while also delivering fuel to western Poland. Until May 2026, the refinery processed Kazakh crude oil delivered via the Druzhba pipeline. However, those supplies were subsequently suspended.

As a result, PCK, with support from the Unimot Group, secured an additional shipment of crude oil from South America. The company said the delivery is expected to strengthen fuel supply security in eastern Germany and western Poland.

Kazakhstan began exporting oil to Germany via Russia’s Druzhba pipeline in 2023, gradually increasing annual volumes from 1.5 million to 2.1 million tons. About 3 million tons were planned for export to Germany in 2026. In the first quarter, 730,000 tons of oil were delivered, double the year-earlier volume. According to the Minister of Energy, Kazakhstan supplied 20% to 30% of the German refinery’s crude oil needs.

On May 1, Russia’s Transneft suspended deliveries of Kazakh oil through the pipeline, citing a lack of technical capacity.