Poland set to break Russia oil pledge with piped January imports

Poland looks set to continue buying Russian oil in January, breaking a pledge the country made for a full halt by year end.

For next month, Transneft PJSC’s oil shipment plan includes delivery of 500,000 tons of Russian crude to Poland via Belarus, Igor Dyomin, a spokesman at the Russian pipeline operator said by phone. Earlier, Polish climate minister Anna Moskwa said that a halt to flows from Russian producer Tatneft PJSC through the line would require sanctions, suggesting shipments might continue.

A potential continuation into January has been in the offing for weeks because officials already flagged that Poland might need European Union sanctions in order to stop imports by pipeline.

Poland, along with Germany, pledged earlier this year that it would stop buying from Russia by the end of this year. Honoring that commitment without causing economic damage is the difficult part. Meanwhile Germany is also thought to be seeking crude via the Russian pipeline system, although Berlin has indicated the barrels it takes would actually be Kazakh.

The market is watching for how Russian oil supplies will be impacted following G-7 sanctions. Those measures began on Dec. 5 and related to seaborne flows, alongside which Germany and Poland made separate pledges to halt piped imports.

Poland’s climate ministry and PKN Orlen didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.