Germany has enough supply to cope with Russian oil pipeline halt
Reuters / Tagesspiegel Background
German refineries have adequate oil stocks if import flows on the Russian Druzhba pipeline were to be halted, a spokesman for industry group (惭颈苍别谤补濒枚濒飞颈谤迟蝉肠丑补蹿迟蝉惫别谤产补苍诲) . Poland, Germany and Slovakia had suspended imports of Russian oil via a major pipeline, citing poor oil quality and triggering a rare crisis over supply from the world鈥檚 second-largest crude exporter. The quality problem arose last week when an unknown Russian producer contaminated oil with high levels of organic chloride, which is used to boost oil output but must be separated before shipment as it can destroy refining equipment, in a separate article.
The pipeline halt is a reminder of how dependant Germany still is on a 鈥減olitically and technically complex fossil infrastructure,鈥� writes Jakob Schlandt in Tagesspiegel Background. that a quarter of German oil supplies arrive via the Druzhba pipeline.
Despite the Energiewende, Germany remains heavily dependent on imports of fossil fuels, as its domestic resources are largely depleted or extraction too costly. Oil reached peak consumption at the end of the 1970s, but it is still Germany鈥檚 most important primary energy source. Mineral oil covered 34.3 percent of Germany鈥檚 primary energy use in 2018. . Only a small fraction is used for electricity production. In 2018, Russia accounted for 36 percent of Germany鈥檚 total crude oil imports of 85.2 million tonnes, .
