The PCK refinery supplies Berlin and Brandenburg with diesel, heating oil and petrol Photo: EPA
By Michael Sauerbier
7 weeks after the start of the Russian oil boycott, supplies for the PCK refinery in Schwedt have not yet been secured. Instead of the promised 70 percent utilization, Berlin’s fuel supplier is only working at 58 percent of its capacity. The value is expected to drop sharply in the near future.
From mid-April, the fuel factory will receive “less than 50 percent” of the usual amount of crude oil, said Federal Economic State Secretary Michael Kellner (Greens) surprisingly on Monday in Potsdam.
The reason for the throttling is long-planned maintenance work at the plant until the end of May. So far, Kellner had promised 70 percent occupancy from the end of January.
Economic State Secretary Michael Kellner (Greens) announces “less than 50 percent capacity utilization” for the PCK refinery Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
All of Berlin and Brandenburg get their fuel from Schwedt. The politicians assure that the supply is not endangered during the maintenance. Reason: full storage tanks. And: Half of the PCK production already covers the needs of the region.
But what about after the six weeks of maintenance? “Our goal is that by summer the utilization must be higher again,” said Kellner. But the expansion of the pipeline from the port of Rostock will take two and a half years. Until then, more crude oil should come from the port of Gdańsk.
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) is not satisfied with the supply of the PCK Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
However, Poland only approves a few tanker loads for Schwedt. Because Russia’s oil company Rosneft is still the main owner of the PCK refinery, under German trusteeship. The federal government wants to make the sale possible with a new law.
Brandenburg boss Dietmar Woidke (SPD) is “not satisfied” with the nail-biter around Schwedt, said: “We have not yet arrived at a state of reliability.”
But waiter warns against “scaremongering”. The Green: “Before the oil embargo, concerns were raised that diesel prices would rise. But then they sank.”