Poland finds leak on one part of Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia to Europe

It is one of the world's largest pipeline and can carry two million barrels per day

WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish pipeline operator PERN said it had halted pumping through one line of the Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia to Europe, after detecting a leak on Saturday evening.

There was no indication as to the cause of the leak, which follows a series of attacks on pipelines carrying Russian oil and gas since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The leak was detected near Chodecz, central Poland, on one of the two lines of the western section of the Druzhba through which crude oil reaches Germany, PERN said.

Firefighters and PERN emergency services were at the scene but there were no reports of a fire.

"The part of the pipeline that was affected by the leak was cut off from the rest, so the scale of the leak is not huge, we’re talking about a rectangular area measuring 30 by 210 metres (yards)," Grzegorz Jankowski from the State Fire Services in Wloclawek told private broadcaster TVN24.

PERN said the second line was operating normally and there was no health threat to local residents, adding that the company was investigating the cause of the leak.

It said supply to Polish refineries was not impacted and that it was in contact with German partners receiving oil through the pipeline.

Germany stopped buying Russian oil in January, but German media have reported that Kazakh oil was being imported through the line.

"PERN services have dug to the place where the pipeline was damaged. Preparatory work is under way to repair the line," PERN posted on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday morning.

It did not say when the line was expected to be fixed or what the impact on supply to Germany was. The German Economy Ministry and the industry association for fuels and energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"Other elements of PERN's infrastructure, including (Druzhba's) Pomeranian section, which is used to pump crude oil arriving in tankers to Poland and then further to Germany, are operating in standard mode," the company said in its statement.

The Druzhba oil pipeline is one of the world's largest and can carry 2 million barrels per day. The total capacity of the western section of both lines that carry oil from central Poland to Germany is 27 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

Flows through the Druzhba pipeline have dropped sharply since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and pipeline infrastructure has been hit several times since in attacks that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine. Ukraine has not acknowledged the attacks.

Oil supply to parts of Eastern and Central Europe via a section of the pipeline was temporarily suspended in November after a rocket hit a power station close to the Belarus border which provides electricity for a pump station.

Europe has been on high alert over the security of its energy infrastructure since major leaks were found in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea in September.

The leaks were found to have been caused by unexplained explosions which ruptured both pipelines. Moscow has blamed Ukraine and the West for the blasts, which occurred as Europe was reducing its reliance on Russian energy in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine and Western leaders have denied any responsibility for the attacks, calling them an act of sabotage that they are investigating.