The head of Germany’s Schwedt refinery is counting on the development of oil supplies through the naftoport in Rostock, even though cooperation with Poles in Gdańsk and the expansion of the Pomeranian oil pipeline are on the table.
Schwedt refinery manager (PCK) Ralf Schairer met with the Schwedt senior’s club. The club members include retirees previously employed at the refinery. Schairer said the facility was counting on Brussels’s support for the construction of a new pipeline from Rostock, and planned to build a new jetty and large oil tanks at the Rostock oil port.
„This wil enable the unloading of two ships at the same time and blending different types of oil. In addition, two large oil tanks are to be built in Rostock to increase the buffer capacity in relation to pipeline supplies. In addition, the capacity of the pipeline is to be increased from six to nine million tons. Three new pumping stations will contribute to this,” the local newspaper Märkische Oderzeitung (MOZ) quoted Schairer.
PCK Refinery, 54% owned by the Russian conglomerate Rosneft, seeks half a billion euros in support from the German government. In the coming weeks Brussels is expected to give its consent. Initially, only the construction of a new pipeline was discussed.
It’s the first time plans to expand the Rostock port have been announced. The oil port in Gdańsk is an alternative to this plan. However, that option would be available only if Schwedt would be derussified, which has not happened despite the attack on Ukraine. The shares owned by Russians are under the trusteeship of the government in Berlin.
According to BiznesAlert.pl’s findings the Poles would be ready to build the second strand of the Friendship Pipeline in order to develop the supply of non-Russian oil to the Schwedt refinery in the event of derusification. Orlen replacing Rosneft is also an option, but talks on this issue, which the Polish company confirmed on our portal, have not been settled yet.
MOZ / Aleksandra Fedorska / Wojciech Jakóbik