Slovak refiner Slovnaft says Croatia's Janaf cuts supply of non-Russian crude
- Slovnaft keen to diversify from Russian crude
- Move 'jeopardizes' supply of non-Russian fuel to Central Europe
- Slovnaft perceives cut as breach of contract
Slovak refiner Slovnaft said on Tuesday that Croatian pipeline operator JANAF had reduced deliveries of non-Russian crude to it for technical reasons, hitting its efforts to refine fuel from other sources.
Slovnaft, part of Hungary's oil and gas group MOL, mostly processes Russian oil and an exemption to EU sanctions that allowed it to export products to the Czech Republic derived from those deliveries expired in June.
It has sought to raise the amount of non-Russian crude at its refinery, and was due to have a mix of 50% of non-Russian crude in October and November, according to a spokesman.
But Slovnaft is facing the loss of 90,000 tonnes of deliveries of Arab Light crude via Janaf, which has told it that that volume is needed to help push other volumes through the system, Slovnaft spokesman Anton Molnar said.
"Janaf told us they need this technological amount because they stopped supplying Serbia's NIS after the U.S. administration sanctioned them," he said.
Earlier this month, Janaf had said in a statement that it had delivered everything in its system owned by Russian-owned NIS following sanctions.
"So (Janaf) took our volume for the technological purpose," Molnar said, adding that Slovnaft had informed Janaf that "we perceive this act as a breach of contract."
Replacing the volume cannot be done quickly, impacting the refining schedule. "They seriously jeopardize the supply of non-Russian fuel to Central Europe," Molnar said.
The Adriatic pipeline from Croatia is a key route for alternative supplies for Hungary and Slovakia, which have long relied mostly on Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline. Hungarian and Slovak officials have worried over the Adriatic's capacity and costs.
JANAF transports 2.1 MM tonnes of crude oil to MOL's refineries in Hungary and Slovakia this year under an existing deal. In 2024, Slovnaft processed a total 4.8 MM tonnes of crude, of which 662,000 tonnes were alternative types.
Slovakia and Hungary, which both differ with the EU over its approach to the war in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in 2022, are also facing their own questions over U.S. sanctions being put on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said last week that Hungary was working on finding a way to circumvent those sanctions and he is expected to meet President Donald Trump next week to discuss the sanctions.
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