Slovnaft, Transpetrol and MOL have signed Memorandum on cooperation in connection with modernisation and increasing of transport capacity for pipeline Friendship 1 between Slovakia and Hungary
SLOVNAFT, a.s., TRANSPETROL, a.s., and international oil and gas company MOL Group signed the Memorandum on cooperation connected to modernisation and increasing Friendship 1 pipeline transport capacity with a Slovak municipality Tupá and a Hungarian town Százhalombatta today. Due to this document Slovnaft refinery as well as Slovakia will have full alternative oil supplies through this pipeline which follows Adria pipeline. The total costs regarding modernisation of Slovak and Hungarian oil-pipeline system Friendship 1 will reach EUR 60 million.
Slovnaft, Transpetrol, and MOL agreed to coordinate oil system operations and decided to cooperate in order to put the modernised oil-pipeline into operation as soon as possible. The oil-pipeline route is approximately 130 kilometres long and it crosses mainly Hungary and about 10 kilometres it passes Slovakia. Operations on the Slovak part of the pipeline will be implemented by TRANSPETROL and operations in Hungary by MOL Group.
“The modernised oil-pipeline connection between the Slovak Republic and Hungary and gaining of alternative access to oil from Adriatic sea is the effective solution of domestic oil safety, long-term sustainability, and refinery production development, employment in the sector, as well as self-sufficiency in oil production in Slovakia,” said Oszkár Világi, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SLOVNAFT, a.s. and member of the Board of Directors of MOL Group.
“TRANSPETROL a.s. is interested in any project which will enhance its importance in the field of oil transport. Since Slovnaft refinery is one of our most important trading partners, the memorandum on cooperation in connection with modernisation of Friendship 1 pipeline is logical and in the term of energy security pragmatic step, “said Ivan Krivosudský, the CEO of TRANSPETROL, a.s. Among energy security of the country the connection maintains and increases the importance of Slovakia as a transit country for possible oil supplies by reverse flow for customers in the Balkan. It also reinforces the importance of oil pipeline system which Transpetrol operates in Slovakia.