Serbia Releases 5,000 Tons of Diesel From Reserves
Serbia releases 5,000 tons of diesel from emergency reserves after importers halted purchases over high costs and low Danube water levels. Contracts are expected within a day or two.
Serbia’s caretaker government decided today to release around 5,000 tons of euro diesel from the country’s state reserves onto the market. The decision was announced by caretaker Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, and the news was carried at the same time, at 10:40 a.m., by Tanjug and B92, both citing a statement from the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
As we promised, the state is taking the measures necessary to protect citizens so that they do not feel the effects of this global energy crisis, just as they have not felt them so far. That is why we decided to release part of our euro diesel stock, around 5,000 tons, from state reserves onto the market.
The minister gave the statement in a release issued by her ministry.
Why private companies stopped importing
Behind the decision lies a shift in the fuel procurement market. Private companies, according to the minister, stopped importing euro diesel because procurement costs rose due to global conflicts and disruptions on the oil market, with an added cost coming from the low water level of the Danube, which drove up the price of shipping fuel by river.
And that is why we reacted as quickly as possible. We expect contracts with the companies to be signed within the next day or two, and for the withdrawal to begin.
Contracts with the companies, as announced, are expected to be signed within the next one to two days, after which the diesel will be withdrawn from state warehouses.
How much diesel is coming, and when
Reserves of oil derivatives have, according to ministry data, doubled since 2022 and remain at a high level even after this release, since the state, as the statement noted, filled its warehouses on time.
October is expected to bring diesel consumption of around 205,000 tons, up from September’s roughly 200,000 tons. Earlier in September, in talks with the Association of Petroleum Companies of Serbia and the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), the minister said that quantity is covered mostly by NIS’s own production, with a smaller share coming from imports, while the refinery in Pancevo processes almost 13,000 tons of crude oil a day.
Oil and diesel prices at home and abroad
Crude oil on the international market still costs more than $100 a barrel, and diesel is trading above $1,500 a ton, which, in the minister’s assessment, is the main reason private importers stopped buying.
Pump prices in Serbia, according to data through Friday, September 25, at 2:59 p.m., reached 236 dinars a liter for diesel and 207 dinars for gasoline. A week earlier, those prices stood at 234 and 205 dinars.
Uncertainty over NIS’s license
Additional uncertainty comes from the operating license the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued to the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), which expires on September 30. Whether it gets extended will determine how long NIS can keep up its current level of refining and wholesale supply, which is currently making up for the drop in imports.
The newsroom reported at the end of August that fuel prices in Serbia had risen 15.4 percent, compared with 23.8 percent in the European Union over the same period, and that NIS’s license was due to expire on September 30. Today’s decision to release the reserves is the first concrete move since those reports: until now, the minister had only spoken of the possibility of drawing on part of the state stock, and that measure has now been formally adopted.
