Against the threat of energy supply, the strong acquisition by Germany of the three refineries of the Russian oil company | Anue Juheng – Energy

The German government announced on Friday (16) that it will take over the operations of the German subsidiary of Russian oil giant Rosneft and control of its three oil refineries as part of its response to the energy crisis.

The German economy ministry said in a statement Friday that the German branch of Russian oil company Rosneft has been entrusted to the energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency. Germany will also take control of its three refineries, of which the Schwedt refinery is the fourth largest in Germany and supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel.

The statement stated that through the trust system, Germany can counter threats to energy supply, laying an important foundation for the future of the Schwedt refinery.

“This is a far-reaching energy policy decision to protect our country,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference on Friday. “We knew that Russia was no longer a reliable energy supplier, we were. This decision was made after careful consideration and it was inevitable.”

The Russo-Ukrainian war continues to rage. Faced with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on the Russian economy. Under EU sanctions, Germany is determined to stop importing oil from Russia by the end of this year and strive to get rid of its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The Russian government reacted by stopping gas deliveries from Nord Stream 1 to Germany.

While a large takeover of the Schwedt refinery is likely to face Russian retaliation, Schweds said, “Germany has ruled out the possibility of a sudden shutdown of Russian crude supplies and we are ready.”

By taking control of these refineries, Germany hopes to use crude oil from countries other than Russia for refining operations and is currently in talks with Kazakhstan.

In fact, this isn’t the first time the German government has taken control of Russian energy resources, after the German government also took over Gazprom Germany, the German holding of Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom, in April.

In addition to taking over Russian energy assets, the German government is also considering nationalizing Uniper, the country’s largest gas importer, and two other large gas importers to avoid the collapse of the German energy system.

The TTF benchmark Dutch natural gas futures fell 1.65% on Friday to 214.285 EUR / MWh.Raw WTIFutures rose 1 cent to $ 85.11 a barrel.Brent crudeFutures rose 0.6% to $ 91.35 a barrel.