Moscow - Russia's state-owned oil pipeline operator Transneft can supply the Czech Republic with oil via its Druzhba pipeline only for three more days.
This confirmed last week's speculation that the delivery of Russian oil for the Czech Republic will drop by 80 percent below average in April.
According to Reuters, Russia's oil firms did not order new deliveries for their Czech clients.
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"We are not limiting (supplies) to anyone, but they are not processing (the requests)," a Transneft spokesman was quoted by Reuters.
In recent years, key Russian oil companies have been rerouting oil flow away from the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, using the new Ust-Luga oil terminal on the coast of the Baltic sea.
Since the beginning of April, Transneft has delivered only 15 percent of the normal monthly amount of oil for the Czech Republic, said Reuters.
Poland and Germany have been experiencing similar shortfalls of Russian oil deliveries recently.
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According to a Czech Transport Ministry expert, the situation will not produce any loss to Czech companies though.
"Even if there were some technical difficulties in the delivery of oil via the Druzhba pipeline, it is possible to cover all the demand by an alternative route via the Trieste pipeline," Pavel Šenych from the Transport Ministry's gas and liquid fuels department was quoted by the Czech News Agency.
Last week, sources from the market warned that a significant shortfall of oil deliveries from the Druzhba pipeline could force the Czech Republic to dramatically increase the purchase of more expensive oil from the Mediterranean ports.
