Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski has instructed the competent authorities to consider the possibility of restarting production at the OKTA oil refinery.
The OKTA oil refinery in Skopje has been out of operation since 2012. Greek company HELLENiQ Energy, formerly known as Hellenic Petroleum, bought it in 1999. The site is used as a storage and distribution center for petroleum products.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has already held talks with the management of OKTA and major petroleum product traders, Večer reported.
A technical assessment is currently underway
The company is expected to submit information on the technical condition of its facilities, as well as a tentative timeframe for their reopening, he added. He pointed out that a technical assessment is currently underway, which should show whether restarting production is feasible.
An instruction was issued to consider the possibility of relaunching the production process at the OKTA refinery, given that the oil pipeline is now operational, meaning that the refinery is physically connected to the Port of Thessaloniki, Mickoski explained.
The operation of the Thessaloniki–Skopje oil and product pipeline was resumed in February
Of note, the operation of the Thessaloniki–Skopje oil and product pipeline was resumed in February this year, and it is used to transport petroleum products from the Greek company’s refinery in Thessaloniki.
Following the US and Israeli attack on Iran at the end of February, the entire world has been struck with severe disruptions in the supply of crude oil and, particularly, diesel.
Mickoski believes that in the future, crude oil could be delivered to the refinery and processed to produce diesel. He warned that a long-term disruption in the supply of diesel would pose a serious challenge for any country, including Macedonia.
Božinovska: Detailed calculations are required
According to Sanja Božinovska, Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources, this is an initial phase of assessing the restart of the Skopje refinery.
Technical information needs to be gathered and analyses conducted before any decision is made, she added. For now, this remains just one of the options, Božinovska said.
The fact that the pipeline is functional represents an important prerequisite for considering this possibility, in her view.
Detailed calculations are required to determine whether it is more cost-effective to process crude oil domestically or to continue importing petroleum products, Božinovska highlighted.
