INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Czech Republic no longer needs to import Russian oil following the completion of a growth to the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) from Italy,
Prime Minister Petr Fiala revealed Tuesday
The building and construction of this growth has actually now been finished, Fiala informed press reporters
Russia can no longer blackmail us, and we have a warranty that we can totally supply ourselves with oil from the West
The TAL pipeline carries oil from the Italian port of Trieste to southern Germany, where it links to the IKL pipeline supplying the Czech
The expansion doubles the countrys oil import capacity through TAL to 8 million loads per year.Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura stated the
growth, costing 1.5 billion Czech koruna ($61 million), was financed by the state-run oil transit business Mero.Since the 1960s, the country
has depended on the Russian Druzhba pipeline for oil, a remnant of its time as part of Soviet-aligned Czechoslovakia
After Russia got into Ukraine in February 2022, the EU banned most Russian oil imports, though the Druzhba pipeline was initially exempted
due to minimal alternatives.Fiala formerly pledged to remove the exemption as quickly as alternative oil supplies ended up being
available.Mero CEO Jaroslav Pantucek verified that, while minor work stays on the broadened pipeline, the country can now fully supply local
refineries by means of TAL
We are fully efficient in supplying oil to the Czech Republic if products through Druzhba are stopped, he said.In 2023, Russian oil still
accounted for 58% of Czech oil imports, according to the market and trade ministry.The TAL pipeline, operational because 1967, is owned by a
consortium of eight oil companies, consisting of Mero and international energy giants Shell, Eni and ExxonMobil.
