Russia resumes oil supplies to Europe after pipeline leak

Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies an eighth of Europe’s imports, resumed shipments after a leak cut exports and sent world oil prices higher.
The section of the Soviet-built pipeline that leaked near Bryansk, in western Russia, should reduce pumping by 80 % to prevent further ruptures, the Natural Resources Ministry said. Lithuania’s Mazeikiu Nafta cut output at its refinery after supplies through the link stopped July 29. Crude rose as high as $ 74 a barrel.

Continuing tension in the Middle East has increased concern about strains on the export network of Russia, the world’s second-biggest oil supplier. European leaders said this month that Russia, which is planning a new $ 11.5 bn oil link to China, may not be investing enough in output and pipelines to ensure reliable supplies to the West.
Druzhba’s 3,800 km of trunk pipelines can carry as much as 1.4 mm bpd to Europe. Russian crude exports fell 1.1 % last year to 5 mm bpd because companies supplied more to domestic refineries amid higher taxes on crude shipped abroad.

Transneft said the leak in the Surazh district of the Bryansk region had been fixed, without giving details about oil supplies. The pipeline’s operator -- Transneft -- said the spill was far smaller than the ministry claimed and had already been cleaned up.
The Natural Resources Ministry backed off an earlier warning that the spill was a potential environmental catastrophe. The ministry initially said the spill, which occurred in the western Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine and Belarus, affected a 4-square-mile area and contaminated water sources.

“Judging by information reaching the ministry from representatives of environmental organizations... the consequences of the accident may be an environmental catastrophe in the region,” the ministry’s first statement said. However several hours later, the ministry issued a second statement saying experts were “not disposed to call the accident... an ecological catastrophe.”
Department spokesman Rinat Gizatulin said the leak only became public when it was repaired. The 2,500-mile Druzhba pipeline can transport more than 1.2 mm bpd and generally works near or at full capacity.

An official from state pipeline operator Transneft said the spill only affected a 4,000-square-foot area and that the consequences had been dealt with.
“It’s already all cleared up. Now there is no problem,” said Mikhail Sayapin, head of the Transneft unit that operates the pipeline. He said the pipeline had stopped pumping oil, but that the flow had resumed a few days later. The 2,485-mile-long pipeline has the capacity to ship over 1.2 mm bpd to eastern and central Europe and generally works at or close to its full capacity.

Gizatulin said ministry experts would arrive at the scene later and he accused Transneft of regularly suppressing information about oil spills.
“Transneft are prone to downplay the consequences of accidents on their pipelines,” he said.
In January, Russian environmentalists complained about being barred from the site of a pipeline rupture in Udmurtia, about 625 miles east of Moscow, preventing them from determining how much oil spilled or what caused the accident. The Natural Resources Ministry said at the time that at least 3,200 tons of oil had spilled, and at least half of that had leaked into nearby waterways. But Transneft insisted only a fraction of that amount had spilled.

Oil spills occur regularly along Russia’s pipeline network.
Vladimir Chuprov, head of Greenpeace Russia’s energy department, said spills of 1,000 tons of oil occur every one to two years on average, while smaller accidents involving several hundred tons occur every two to three months.