Crude oil traffic through the port of Trieste will grow to four million tonnes per year. The TAL group, which runs the Marino Terminale of the Julian airport, where they approve oil tankers that dump oil to be entered in the Transalpine Olepipeline operated by TAL, which arrives in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, has signed up to the company. an agreement with MERO CR, Czech public company working in the oil logistics of the country and which owns 5% of the capital of the same TAL, aimed at ensuring the independence of the Czech Republic from oil resupplied through the pipeline of Friendship from Russia.

The deal, signed under the so-called TAL-PLUS project which sees the MERO CR as a leading player and financier, has forecast an increase in the capacity and supply of oil for the Czech Republic of up to four million tonnes from 2025. per year. Overall, the Transalpine Olepipeline will supply the Czech Republic with eight million tonnes of oil per year, thus fully covering the country's crude oil needs.

" The increase in the capacity of the TAL pipeline-the Czech Republic's Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, announcing the agreement-is a strategic project for the Czech Republic. Only thanks to this step will we achieve security and energy independence. In this way, we are also complying with the commitment we have made during the negotiation of an exception in the supply of Russian oil until the end of 2024. The Czech Republic fully supports the packages of sanctions against Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately, at the moment we are not self-sufficient, which will change with the signed contract. "

The general manager of the TAL group, Alessio Lilli, specified that the handling of the additional volumes of crude will be allowed by interventions that will be carried out on the pipeline and will cover the replacement and enhancement of the oil. pumps, while there will be no enlargements or structural changes to the pipeline. Investments for the modernization of the infrastructure, including technological changes to the MERO infrastructure, which is connected to the TAL pipeline in Vohburg, Bavaria, are expected to amount to 1,3-1, 6 billion Czech crowns, amounting to 50-70 million of euros.

Thanks to the increase in capacity, the volume of oil transported by the TAL pipeline will go from 6,400 to 7,500 cubic meters per hour.