Oil and gas company NIS (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)
Serbia is still waiting for a response from the US State Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding the extension of the operating license to oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), while NIS-owned refinery in Pancevo will remain on hot standby on Dec. 2.
For Dec. 2, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced an “important meeting” with teams responsible for energy stability and security of Serbia.
The meeting will discuss potential consequences, because the US, which imposed sanctions against NIS on Oct. 9 due to Russia’s controlling stake in the company, was not expected to respond by Dec. 2 to Serbia’s request for extending the operating license to NIS.
An unplanned shutdown of the Pancevo Refinery, as well as the problems with the JANAF and Transnafta pipelines and crude oil transport on the Danube River, are the main triggers for activating the plan for safe market supplies, according to the 2019 Decree on emergency response to events jeopardizing electricity and fuels supplies, which also contains an Emergency Response Plan.
The main emergency measure envisages the release of operating and state oil reserves, which shall be offered to oil companies proportional to their share in oil stocks.
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