OREANDA-NEWS. November 24, 2010. The Belarusian pipeline operator Gomeltransneft Druzhba will be able to pump up to 16 million tonnes of oil per annum along the new route Yuzhny (Odessa) – Brody – Mozyr after minor technical adjustments, Gomeltransneft Druzhba Director General Sergei Sosnovsky said on 24 November.

Simultaneously the company will be able to pump 17-19 million tonnes of oil per annum via the Mozyr – Brody-2 pipeline to Central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia).

The system is quite robust and the Mozyr – Brody-2 pipeline has already been used to pump 17.5 million tonnes of oil per annum, said Sergei Sosnovsky. Over the last five years the parity shipment of oil to Central Europe has reached this level. “We can raise the pressure in the Mozyr – Brody-2 section up to 53 atmospheres to increase the throughput even more,” he said. Now the operating pressure is set at 45 atmospheres.

According to the source, Gomeltransneft Druzhba will definitely be able to fulfill its contractual obligations to its key partner, AK Transneft. The latter has already informed Gomeltransneft Druzhba that it plans to have 17-19 million tonnes of oil pumped to Central Europe in 2011.

The Gomeltransneft Druzhba Director General added that the test oil pumping along the route Yuzhny – Brody – Mozyr ended successfully on 23 November, with the daily throughput at 24,000 tonnes. At the same time Gomeltransneft Druzhba used the Mozyr – Brody-2 pipeline to deliver oil to Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia, with the daily throughput close to 50,500 tonnes.

The national unitary enterprise Gomeltransneft Druzhba is a self-sustaining business entity in the Belarusian state-run petrochemical concern Belneftekhim. Gomeltransneft Druzhba’s pipelines are part of the system of transcontinental oil pipelines Druzhba. The system is an important instrument used to export Russian oil to Europe. Gomeltransneft Druzhba operates nearly 2,000km of oil pipelines. The oil pipeline crosses the Gomel and Brest oblasts to connect Russia with Poland and Ukraine. In 2009 the company transported 79.6 million tonnes of oil, including 67.6 million tonnes in transit.