WARSAW, Poland (HPD) — The Polish operator of a pipeline carrying Russian crude to Germany said Saturday it had repaired damage that caused a leak earlier in the week and flow has been fully restored.
The state operator, PERN, said the two lines of the Druzhba pipeline were operating normally, transporting oil.
The cause of the leak that occurred on Tuesday at a facility in central Poland is still under investigation.
The Druzhba pipeline, which means “Friendship” in Russian, was built in the 1960s and is one of the largest pipeline systems in the world, carrying crude oil from Siberia to central Europe. It branches out to reach Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Germany.
The leak followed last month’s attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, in which explosives were reportedly used. Europe has taken steps to reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons after the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine.