This week marks one month since the U.S. sanctions against Serbia’s oil company NIS came into effect. The situation in Europe has become more complicated due to sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, as well as ongoing uncertainty in the gas market.
In Serbia, despite increased imports of oil derivatives, fuel supply remains stable, and authorities assure that there will be no energy crisis. The NIS refinery in Pančevo currently has enough crude oil reserves for processing until November 25. Serbia has also expanded imports of finished petroleum products via road, rail, and river transport, but import capacity is limited by infrastructure bottlenecks and low water levels on the Danube, which could eventually affect fuel prices.
According to Tomislav Mićović, Secretary-General of the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia, the government’s weekly formula for calculating maximum fuel prices includes a component reflecting import-related costs. “The higher the share of imported fuel, the higher those costs,” he explained.
The situation has been worsened by reduced fuel deliveries from Hungary, following a fire at the MOL refinery, and by Bulgaria’s recent ban on exporting diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel. The Bulgarian government imposed the temporary export ban to protect its domestic market from the effects of U.S. sanctions targeting Lukoil’s majority-owned refinery, the country’s only large processing facility.
Ivan Benev, director of a Bulgarian fuel retail chain, said that over 60% of Bulgaria’s fuel supply comes from Lukoil, warning that the ban could lead to shortages: “There’s no way to compensate for that. We simply don’t have the storage capacity or infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, Serbiagas director Dušan Bajatović assured the public that Serbia will not face a gas crisis, stating that steps are being taken to resolve issues related to NIS. “There will be no gas crisis, nor any other kind of energy crisis in Serbia — not gas, not oil, not electricity. There will be enough gas for households and industry, and prices will remain stable,” he said.
At the same time, the European Union is preparing to gradually ban imports of Russian gas starting in January, beginning with liquefied natural gas (LNG). The EU plans to increase deliveries from the U.S., Norway, Azerbaijan, Qatar, and Algeria.
However, Qatar, which currently covers about 14% of Europe’s gas demand, has warned that the EU’s new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which requires companies to comply with environmental and human rights standards, could disrupt LNG deliveries.
Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi stated that Doha “will not supply LNG to Europe unless the EU reconsiders or withdraws the corporate sustainability directive,” adding that imposing a 5% penalty on energy revenue would make exports unfeasible.
The evolving geopolitical landscape continues to reshape global energy supply routes, heightening uncertainty for European consumers, many of whom remain heavily dependent on imported energy sources.
