The modernised Slovak-Hungarian section of the crude oil pipeline Adria was opened. (source: SITA)
Adria pipeline connects the Slovak section of the Druzhba Pipeline with the Croatian port of Omisalj. The reconstruction of the 128-kilometer pipeline section cost 70 million euros. The Hungarian company MOL, that controls the Slovak refinery Slovnaft and the Slovak oil carrier Transpetrol were jointly in charge of the modernization project.
The pipeline was opened by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán on the premises of Transpetrol’s booster pump station at Tupá in Nitra region, the TASR newswire reported.
The Adria pipeline reconstruction project has increased potential capacity in the Slovak direction from 3.5 million tonnes of oil per year to 6 million. The Hungarian part of the pipeline, with two existing booster pump stations reconstructed, has seen its capacity increased from 10 million tonnes of oil per year to 14 million.
The reconstruction of the Adria/Baratsag I pipeline is an important element with regard to strengthening energy security in central Europe. The pipeline has become a full-fledged alternative for oil supply from the Adriatic for refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and partially in the Czech Republic. It also creates a marketplace for the administrators of pipeline networks in the region as a back up for transporting oil from the Druzhba pipeline via Slovakia and Hungary to countries on the Adriatic, according to TASR.
