Germany is taking over Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC’s German unit, including stakes in three oil refineries, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government reacts to an unprecedented energy crisis sparked by the invasion of Ukraine.
Germany later this year is set to stop importing the Russian crude that feeds its refineries, as part of Europe’s move to isolate Russia economically.
The government’s move “counteracts the impending threat to the security of energy supplies and lays an important foundation for the preservation and future of the Schwedt location,” the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action said.
Photo: AP
It is an escalation in the economic standoff with Russia and marks another step in Berlin’s increasingly active role in the energy industry as it unwinds decades of tight collaboration with Russia.
Surging gas prices and Moscow’s move to squeeze supplies to Europe have already prompted a series of government bailouts and rescue loans for energy firms. Now, Scholz’s administration is in advanced talks to take over Uniper SE and two other large gas importers as it tries to avoid a collapse of its energy market, people familiar with the matter said.
Germany has been hit especially hard by the energy standoff with Russia — both on oil and gas. The government yesterday said that the grid regulator, the German Federal Network Agency, is to become trustee of RN Refining & Marketing GmbH and Rosneft Deutschland GmbH, which account for about 12 percent of Germany’s oil processing capacity, and stakes in oil refineries in Schwedt, Karlsruhe and Vohburg. It would be a similar setup to the takeover of Gazprom Germania earlier this year.
The Schwedt refinery — near the Polish border — has, until now, received its crude via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia. While the plant remained significantly in Russian hands, it was hard to see how the facility would keep getting enough fuel to supply Berlin and other parts of eastern Germany.
The refinery might have to lean heavily on Poland, from where it can get seaborne cargo from the international marketplace. The US is one possible source of replacement crude.
“The decision is accompanied by a comprehensive package for the future, which will provide a transformational boost for the region and support the refinery to ensure the supply of oil via alternative supply routes,” the ministry said, adding that insurers and banks have become unwilling to do business with the companies.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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