Skip to main content

Czechia will double capacity of the TAL pipeline to end Russian oil imports

The Czech oil pipeline operator MERO ČR has reached an agreement to double the capacity of the Transalpine (TAL) crude oil pipeline to Czechia. The TAL-PLUS project, which will enable an increase in oil supply capacity of up to 4 Mt/year, was approved by all TAL shareholders. Czechia is connected to the TAL pipeline between Italy and Germany via the 4 Mt/year Ingolstadt–Kralupy–Litvínov (IKL) pipeline. The IKL pipeline will thus be able to supply 8 Mt/year of oil to Czechia, starting from 2025.

The TAL-PLUS project is notably meant to help Czechia strengthen its energy security and ensure independence from Russian oil by 2025. Most Russian oil currently comes from the Druzhba pipeline, of which MERO ČR is the operator of the Czech section. Increasing the capacity of the TAL pipeline and making modifications to the MERO oil pipeline system is estimated to require an investment of between CZK1.3bn and CZK1.6bn (€55m-€68m).

Czech refineries are owned by Polish state-owned refiner PKN Orlen, which announced in April 2023 that it had terminated a contract for Russian oil supplies for its Polish refineries. PKN Orlen now wants to eliminate Russian oil from PKN-owned refineries in Czechia as well.