Ministry: No Disruption to Petroleum Product Supply in Serbia at Present

Pancevo oil refinery (Photo: YTPrintScreen)

Sasa Kokovic, assistant Serbian minister of mining and energy, has said that there are no disruptions to the supply of petroleum products to the domestic market at present, but that all scenarios were being actively considered to ensure security of the supply, the ministry said in a press release on Oct. 27.

"The reserves managed by the Fuel Reserve Administration and the Commodity Reserve Directorate are currently at capacity, and we are working on increasing petroleum product imports in coordination with oil companies. We have received announcements from oil company representatives that the import of petroleum products will be greater in November than monthly imports in normal conditions," Kokovic told a meeting of a working body of the Organization for National Strategy on Oil Sector Crisis Situations.

He stressed that, together with measures being taken to preserve market supply, finding a solution that would allow the refinery in Pancevo to resume operation was of the utmost importance.

The representatives of the Oil Company Association earlier announced the import of over 100,000 tons of petroleum products by the end of October via all modes of transport.

MOL Serbia and Lukoil Serbia representatives have said that, despite a recent fire at a refinery in Hungary and the introduction of sanctions against Lukoil by the United Kingdom and the U.S., they still planned to deliver the imports planned earlier and due by the end of the month.