US sanctions imposed on Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) prevented a shipment of crude oil, which could have bought time for the only refinery in Serbia, which might be forced to halt operations without new deliveries, Reuters writes.
Anonymous sources told Reuters that Serbia has only a few more days before the refinery in Pančevo is forced to stop processing crude oil.
NIS, they state, did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The agency reminds that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, warned that without new deliveries, the refinery, which provides most of the country’s oil products – including gasoline and aviation fuel, could cease operations after November 1st.
However, Vučić said that the tanks are full and that existing stocks of petroleum products should ensure supply for Serbia until the end of the year.
“There will be no shortage of crude oil, its derivatives, or an energy crisis,” he said, according to Reuters.
The tanker “Maran Helios,” which was carrying a million barrels of Kazakh crude oil intended for NIS, arrived at the Croatian port of Omišalj on October 9, according to data from the analytical group Kpler.
However, the fuel did not reach Serbia, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Croatian oil pipeline operator Janaf stated that there were “no additional deliveries” for Serbia, which suggests that it did not take over the Kazakh KEBCO oil purchased by NIS.
Reuters could not determine whether the shipment would be stored in Omišalj or resold to another buyer, after it was finally unloaded on Tuesday, after about two weeks of waiting near the port.
The crude oil that NIS was supposed to receive would have been enough to operate the Pančevo refinery for about 10 days, according to a Reuters calculation.
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Source: Danas; Photo: Pixabay