Prague, February 27, 2018 – Representatives of Czech UNIPETROL RPA, s.r.o., and Croatian Jadranski Naftovod, d.d. have signed an addendum to the frame agreement on crude oil transportation through the JANAF Pipeline which was concluded in 2016. The addendum extends the validity of this agreement until 2021. The JANAF Pipeline represents a possible alternative transportation route to the Czech Republic. The use of the JANAF Pipeline which starts at the oil terminal in the Croatian port of Omišalj may contribute to the future diversification of crude oil supplies to the Czech Republic. Crude oil is currently transported to the Czech Republic only via the Druzhba and TAL-IKL pipelines.
“The JANAF Pipeline represents an option for the Czech Republic and the entire Central Europe to further strengthen the security of supplies because it provides an alternative in a case of any interruption of supplies from the Druzhba pipeline or in a case of capacity shortfall via the highly utilised TAL Pipeline. To launch crude oil transportation through the JANAF Pipeline to the Czech Republic, we only need to conclude transportation agreements with our Hungarian and Slovak partners where the pipeline runs. We believe we will be able to close the negotiations soon since the stability of the Central European space is the top objective of all stakeholders,” said Krzysztof Zdziarski, CEO of Unipetrol.
The JANAF Pipeline starts at the Omišalj Terminal on the Croatian Island of Krk and runs across Croatia and then through a northern branch to Hungary and Slovakia where it connects to the Druzhba pipeline in Šahy. The eastern branch of the oil pipeline provides supplies to Bosnia- Herzegovina and Serbia.
Jadranski Naftovod (JANAF) is a company providing continuous oil transportation to the refineries in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary. It also offers crude oil and petroleum product storage for the world’s major oil companies. The joint agreement also includes a frame agreement on storage of crude oil purchased by Unipetrol at the Omišalj Terminal. With this move, Unipetrol is expanding its possibilities of operative storage of crude oil in transit.
“Transportation of crude oil for Unipetrol represents a new business opportunity for us. Jadranski Naftovod is ready to provide Unipetrol with safe and reliable transportation of various crude oil grades. We hope that our cooperation in crude oil transportation and storage will be implemented soon,” said Dragan Kovačević, Chairman of the Management Board of Jadranski Naftovod.
In the Czech Republic, Unipetrol operates two refineries – one in Litvínov and the other in Kralupy nad Vltavou. Their total annual nominal production capacity is 8.7 million tonnes of crude oil. The JANAF pipeline can be used to supply crude oil both to the refinery in Kralupy and in Litvínov. Last year, the volume of crude oil processed by Unipetrol amounted to 7.6 million tonnes.