Lithuania seeks EU help to resume oil flow from Russia

(VILNIUS) - The EU Commissioner for energy Andris Piebalgs has promised to discuss with Russia the reopening of an important oil pipeline to Lithuania, a government spokesman here said on Thursday.

EU and Russian leaders are due to hold a summit meeting on May 18 in the Russian city of Samara and the Druzhba-1 pipeline, which feeds Russian oil to Lithuania's Mazeikiu oil refinery will be a "key topic" for discussion, the government's information bureau said in a statement.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas got the assurance from Piebalgs on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

"This should be an example of Russia's credibility in the energy area," the statement quoted Piebalgs as saying after he met with Kirkilas.

The Druzhba-1 pipeline, which also feeds other facilities in the Baltic region, was shut down in July last year after a section of the Soviet-era duct ruptured in western Russia.

The halt in oil supplies came just weeks after Polish oil group PKN Orlen sealed a deal with Russian oil group Yukos to buy the Mazeikiu complex, apparently to the annoyance of Moscow which wanted the Baltic oil facility to be sold to a Russian company.

Since the shutdown, Mazeikiu, which is the only oil refining facility in the Baltic states, has had to bring in crude via an offshore terminal at Butinge, a more expensive way of transporting the oil.

As a result Mazeikiu's profits last year shrank five fold to 55.6 million euros compared with 2005.

In October, Lithuania offered Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft help in fixing the pipeline, but the offer was rejected, with the Russians insisting they were on schedule with the repairs.

"The schedule stipulates that the technical investigation should be completed by February or March next year. After we understand what caused the problem we can determine how to fix it," Transneft Vice-President Sergei Grigoriyev said at the time.

Piebalgs told Kirkilas on Thursday that he would demand more transparency from the Russians to try to resolve the problem.

"If the EU countries work together, there are real possibilities that Russia will renew oil supply to the Mazeikiu refinery via the Druzhba pipeline," Piebalgs said.

EU leaders were in Brussels Thursday for a two-day summit meeting focussed on climate change and renewable energy sources.