Klaipeda Failed To Unload Norwegian Oil For Belarus

The unloading was supposed to start today.

On January 22, unloading of a tanker with 80 thousand tons of Norwegian oil, bought by Belarus, was to begin at the port of Klaipeda. However, according to kurier.lt, it was postponed until Thursday. The port management refers to "adverse weather conditions" (strong wind). It is expected that in the morning of January 23 the tanker will enter the port. In the meantime, "Breiviken" is at sea near Klaipeda and is waiting for permission.

The oil will be shipped from the tanker to the oil terminal, and then to the railcars. The delivery to the Naftan Refinery in Navapolatsk will be made by railway.

Belarus has no contract for the supply of Russian oil in 2020, so from January 1, they have been stopped. Negotiations have not yet yielded any results, they have been suspended. Minsk considers it economically inexpedient and pointless to pay margin to the Russian oil companies in the same amount. By order of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the search for alternative options for oil supply started in late 2019. The first fruit is Norwegian oil.

The other day, Lukashenka said that 30-40% of necessary oil will be purchased from Russia, while the rest will be imported through the Baltic States and Ukraine.