Leak discovered at Russian oil pipeline in Poland – media

An oil spill has occurred on a section of the Russian Druzhba pipeline near the town of Pniewy in western Poland, the broadcaster TVN24 reported late on Sunday, citing the local fire department.

The spill was discovered earlier in the day after local residents reported a strong smell of petroleum on the outskirts of the town, according to the outlet.

Martin Halasz, spokesman for the fire service, told the news outlet that firefighters called to the area discovered a “substance resembling oil” in a nearby field where the pipeline runs. The fire department contacted PERN, Poland’s state-owned pipeline operator, which confirmed that there was a leak on a section of the pipeline.

A PERN representative who arrived at the scene said the pipeline was shut down, while maintenance crews were working to assess the damage and determine the cause of the spill. It is currently unclear whether the damage was man-made.

The fire department said there was no threat of fire or explosion due to the leak.

Built in the 1960s, the Druzhba pipeline has two branches, spanning a total of some 4,000km (2,485 miles), and connecting Russian and Kazakh oil suppliers with consumers in Europe.

The section of the pipeline where the leak was found connects the PERN oil supply base near Plock in central Poland with two oil refineries in Germany, constituting part of the northern branch. The pipeline branches off in Mozyr, Belarus, with the northern part going to Poland and Germany, while the southern branch goes to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The flow of oil from Russia along the northern branch was stopped due to EU sanctions imposed in early 2023, but it has been pumping Kazakh oil to Germany since last December.