The Serbian oil company NIS, which is 55% owned by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, may halt operations of the country's only oil refinery within a week, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
NIS, which owns a refinery in the town of Pančevo near Belgrade with a capacity of 4.8 million tons per year, as well as a network of 350 gas stations across the country, was sanctioned by the US in early October after numerous delays granted by the Trump administration. This prevented the Serbian oil group from receiving a shipment of crude oil that could have bought time for Serbia's only oil refinery. According to Reuters calculations, this shipment would have been sufficient to keep the Pančevo refinery running for about 10 days.
On October 9, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warned that without supplies, the refinery, which provides most of the country's oil products, including gasoline and aviation fuel, would struggle to operate after November 1. However, he clarified that fuel storage is full, and the existing reserves of oil products should be sufficient for Serbia until the end of the year.
Meanwhile, two sources told the agency that fuel reserves in Serbia are nearly depleted, and the country will increasingly rely on imports as these reserves begin to dwindle.
Photo: Reuters