Slovnaft eyes Latin American oil imports amid supply concerns

Slovakian oil refiner and fuel retailer Slovnaft is seeking to source more oil from Latin America to help plug shortages of Russian and Middle Eastern crudes, its CEO told public service broadcaster STVR March 26.

Marek Senkovic, CEO of Slovnaft, said the company has already purchased oil from Latin America to be imported via Croatia's Adria pipeline, which has acted as its sole import route for over a month. , Until Jan. 27, the company relied almost exclusively on Russian oil to feed its refinery in Bratislava through a separate pipeline, Druzhba, until it was taken offline by a drone attack.

Before the outbreak of the current conflict in the Middle East Gulf, Slovnaft said it sourced 11 oil tankers to import via Croatia, including supplies from Libya, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and Norway. The cargoes were available with delivery times of between four and five weeks, and were compatible grades for processing at the Slovakian facility.

However, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still at a virtual standstill, the company has been forced to look further afield for its feedstock. "We are now beginning to import two types of oil from Latin America, which should arrive in around 80 days" at the Croatian port of Omisalj, Senkovic said, without providing further detail on the cargoes purchased. A Slovnaft spokesperson confirmed the timelines.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, crude deliveries from Latin America to the Croatian port of Omisalj, which feeds its Adria pipeline, have proven extremely rare. In November 2025, a cargo of Guyana's Liza crude was delivered to the port, but deliveries from the region have otherwise proven almost unprecedented. The last delivery from the US was more than two years ago, in September 2023.

Slovnaft, which is owned by Hungary's MOL Group, has called on Croatia to allow Russian oil to pass through its pipeline network pending repairs to the Druzhba system, arguing that EU sanctions law provides for such circumstances. Nonetheless, the Croatian pipeline operator Janaf has yet to approve the request, and has asked for explicit EU and US approval before doing so.

Slovnaft's 122,000 b/d refinery is currently operating at reduced capacity using a loan of 250,000 tons (around 1.8 million barrels) from the country's state reserves until the first oil tanker deliveries arrive, it has said previously. After declaring a state of emergency in the country's fuel sector, the government has set limits on purchases of diesel fuel and mandated higher prices for foreign motorists to safeguard the domestic supply.

Security concerns are mounting across Central Europe, where governments have been among the first in the EU to introduce strict energy conservation measures. In the Czech Republic, a significant importer of Slovakian diesel, the government has pushed to delay refinery maintenance, whlie producer Orlen Unipetrol declared force majeure due to the geopolitical situation on March 26.