This was announced by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic himself, Petr Fiala, at a press conference held today in the Czech city of Kralupy nad Vltavou. "Increasing the capacity of the TAL pipeline," said Prime Minister Petr Fiala, "is a strategic project for the Czech Republic. Only through this step will we achieve energy security and independence. In this way, we are also fulfilling the commitment we made during the negotiation of an exception in the supply of Russian oil until the end of 2024. The Czech Republic fully supports the sanctions packages against Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we are not self-sufficient at the moment, which will change with the signed contract." This is an important step in strengthening energy security and ensuring the Czech Republic's oil independence. The TAL-PLUS project agreement provides for an increase in oil capacity and supply for the Czech Republic of up to 4 million tons per year from 2025. In total, the Transalpine Pipeline will supply the Czech Republic with 8 million tons of oil per year, thus completely covering the country's crude oil needs.
"The contract was signed with the joint effort and consensus of all TAL shareholders," explained TAL Group General Manager Alessio Lilli, "a signature that came at the end of an intense preparatory work, for which I thank not only all the partners, starting with MERO ČR lead partner and financier of the TAL-PLUS project, but also all the Group Management. The interventions that will be carried out on the pipeline will concern the replacement and upgrading of the pumps and motors that enable the handling of crude oil, so there will be no expansion or structural changes to the pipeline. The TAL pipeline thus further strengthens its strategic role in serving the European economy in the international energy scene and looks to the future, ensuring with these investments positive effects on all territories in which we work." "The agreement on the upgrading of the TAL pipeline is an important achievement, preceded by a year of intense and challenging negotiations," said Jaroslav Pantuček, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of MERO ČR. "TAL, through MERO's financing, will ensure the technical modifications and modernization of parts of the pipeline in the coming months and years, so as to achieve an expansion of its transport capacity".
Investments in infrastructure modernization, including technological changes to the MERO infrastructure, are expected to amount to 1.3 to 1.6 billion Czech crowns, or 50-70 million euros.
Due to the increased capacity, the volume of oil transported by the TAL pipeline will increase from 6,400 to 7,500 cubic meters per hour.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
