Hungary Releases Strategic Oil After Druzhba Disruption

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s government has announced it will release approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserves following a drone attack on the Druzhba pipeline late last month that halted oil flows, according to a government decree published Thursday.

However, Croatia’s pipeline operator JANAF stated there is currently no need for Hungary to tap into its reserves. The company said that Hungary’s oil firm, MOL Group, had secured the transit of Russian seaborne oil to both Hungary and Slovakia via the JANAF pipeline during the Druzhba outage.

“At this moment, a significant quantity of non-Russian crude oil is being transported via JANAF’s pipeline for MOL Group, while three additional tankers carrying non-Russian oil, also for MOL Group, are en route to the Omisalj Terminal,” the operator said. “There is no need to tap into reserves as oil transport toward MOL’s refineries continues uninterrupted.”

Hungary and Slovakia, which operate the only remaining refineries in the European Union still processing Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline, have been working to secure alternative supplies since flows were halted on January 27. Ukrainian authorities said the disruption was caused by a Russian drone attack that damaged the pipeline infrastructure.

Both Budapest and Bratislava have blamed Kyiv for the delay in resuming oil flows, citing political motives. The incident has raised concerns over energy security in the region, particularly given the dependence of the two countries on Russian crude delivered via Druzhba.

The government’s move to release strategic reserves underscores Hungary’s preparedness to respond to potential disruptions in oil supply, even as pipeline operators assure that existing transit arrangements are maintaining consistent deliveries.

Energy analysts note that the situation highlights the EU’s ongoing vulnerability to geopolitical disruptions in the energy sector, particularly for countries still reliant on Russian crude. Hungary and Slovakia’s efforts to secure continuous supply via alternative routes and seaborne deliveries have mitigated the immediate risk to refinery operations.