The European Union (EU) will have to invest between 1.5 and 2 billion euros to ensure security of oil supply following an embargo on Russia, the European Commission estimates, advocating alternative supply routes.

"Dependence on Russian fossil fuels extends also to crude oil and petroleum products. While in most cases the world market allows for rapid and effective substitution, some member states are more dependent on Russian oil," admits the EU executive in the draft communication on the REpowerEU energy package, which should be released on Wednesday and to which the Lusa agency had access this Tuesday.

Days after proposing an embargo on all Russian oil following the military invasion of Ukraine, Brussels points out that "the total investment required to ensure security of oil supply should amount to between 1.5 and two billion euros."

The EU executive admits that "stopping supplies from the Druzhba pipeline, which delivers crude oil to Europe directly from central Russia, will increase pressure on alternative supply routes," notably the ports of Gdansk, Rostock, Trieste or Omisalj and alternative pipeline infrastructure, which are "currently not prepared to handle this additional pressure."

The Druzhba is the longest oil pipeline in the world, running from Russia to Belarus, where it splits into two branches, on the one hand to Poland and Germany, and on the other to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, for a total of 8,900 kilometers.

"In this context, targeted investments are needed to ensure oil security. Projects to develop and expand the capacity of existing infrastructure and to address existing bottlenecks [...] are key to ensuring viable alternatives for the Member States most affected," the European Commission stresses.

For Brussels, "the establishment of alternative supply routes should also be accompanied by targeted investments in the reconfiguration and modernization of refineries for petroleum products, since the replacement of crude oil from the Urals [Russia] with alternative types of oil implies technological changes."

At issue is REPowerEU, the plan to increase the resilience of the European energy system and make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuels before 2030, following the Ukraine war and supply problems.

In the latest package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, proposed by Brussels in early May and still requiring endorsement by all 27 member states, a total and gradual elimination of all Russian oil imports is foreseen to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Russia, also stipulating a one-year derogation for Hungary and Slovakia.

Countries wholly dependent on Russian oil, such as Hungary, have come out against this progressive EU embargo on Russian oil on the terms proposed by the European Commission, claiming that it jeopardizes the country's energy security.

The war in Ukraine has exposed the EU's excessive energy dependence on Russia, which accounts for about 45% of European gas imports. Russia also supplies 25% of the oil and 45% of the coal imported by the EU.

On average in the EU, fossil fuels (such as gas and oil) have a weight of 35%, compared to 39% for renewables, but this is not the case in all member states, given the differences between the energy mix of each of the 27 member states, with some more dependent than others.