The German government announced on Friday (16th) that it will take over the operations of Russian oil giant Rosneft’s German subsidiary and control of its three oil refineries as part of its response to the energy crisis.
The German economy ministry said in a statement on Friday that the German subsidiary of Russian oil company Rosneft has been placed in trust by the energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency. Germany will also take over control of its three refineries, of which the Schwedt refinery is Germany’s fourth largest and supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel.
The statement mentioned that through the trusteeship system, Germany can counter threats to energy supply, laying an important foundation for the future of the Schwedt refinery.
“This is a far-reaching energy policy decision to protect our country,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a news conference on Friday. “We knew Russia was no longer a reliable energy supplier, we were This decision was made after careful consideration and it was inevitable.”
The Russian-Ukrainian war continues to rage. In the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on the Russian economy. According to the EU’s sanctions, Germany is determined to stop importing oil from Russia by the end of this year and strive to get rid of its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The Russian government retaliated by halting gas deliveries from Nord Stream 1 to Germany.
While a strong takeover of the Schwedt refinery is likely to be subject to Russian retaliation, Schweds said: “Germany has ruled out the possibility of a sudden stop in Russian crude supplies, and we are ready.”
By taking control of these refineries, Germany hopes to use crude oil from countries other than Russia for refining operations and is currently in talks with Kazakhstan.
In fact, this is not the first time the German government has taken control of Russian energy assets. Earlier, the German government also took over Gazprom Germania, the German business of Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom, in April.
In addition to taking over Russian energy assets, the German government is also considering whether to nationalize Uniper, the country’s largest gas importer, and two other large gas importers to prevent the collapse of Germany’s energy system.
TTF benchmark Dutch natural gas futures fell 1.65% on Friday to 214.285 EUR / MWh.WTI CrudeFutures rose 1 cent to $85.11 a barrel.Brent CrudeFutures rose 0.6% to $91.35 a barrel.