Kazakhstan to step up crude oil deliveries to Germany

German and Kazakh representatives reached an agreement for additional oil deliveries on the sidelines of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's visit to the Central Asian state on Tuesday, reported dpa.

According to the deal, the PCK refinery in the German town of Schwedt is to receive 100,000 tons of crude oil per month by the end of 2024.

The long-term delivery should increase the refinery's capacity utilization by about 10 percentage points.

Steinmeier welcomed the additional deliveries in a joint press conference with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana.

He said this would secure the future of the Schwedt site and also of fuel supplies in eastern Germany. "This is good news for Schwedt and good news for energy security in Germany."

The PCK refinery supplies Berlin and large parts of north-eastern Germany with fuel. Until the end of 2022, it mainly processed crude oil from Russia. When that supply was cut off due to the war in Ukraine, the refinery's future was threatened.

Kazakhstan has stepped in with deliveries several times since the beginning of the year.