This is EXACTLY how long the shutdown of Pancevo refinery will take

The shutting down of production facilities in the Pancevo refinery, that started on Tuesday, could last for several days, Tanjug has learned.

After a complete shutdown, if the US OFAC license that would enable NIS (Petroleum Industry of Serbia) to continue work were to arrive, it would take at least two weeks to restart production.

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Due to the lack of crude oil inflow - caused by US sanctions against NIS that were imposed on October 9, because Russia has majority ownership in the company - the Pancevo refinery switched to the warm circulation phase on November 25, from which it was able to resume production more quickly and easily.

The first phase of preparations for the shutdown was the warm circulation phase, during which the Pancevo refinery facilities were ready to start production as soon as crude oil arrived.

NIS announced yesterday that refinery started to suspend production facilities due to the lack of crude oil for processing, which occurred as a result of the sanctions imposed by the US.

As stated, the operation of the process units is being suspended according to the principle applied in case of scheduled overhauls, observing the laws of the Republic of Serbia, internal regulations of the company, and the most demanding environmental standards and occupational health and safety rules.

NIS also stated that is continuing to supply the domestic market with petroleum products without interruption, thanks to the stocks secured earlier.

President Aleksandar Vucic said yesterday that there has been no response from the US regarding the NIS license, and that Serbia has given permission to shut down the refinery.

"We expected to receive a license from the US to continue supplying oil to our Pancevo refinery - let's not go into whether they make separate decisions, then combine them or make them at the same time - we did not receive a positive decision from the US," Vucic told a news conference held on Tuesday at the Presidency of Serbia in Belgrade.

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)