A disruption to the trans-Alpine Pipeline (TAL) in Italy at the end of March allegedly endangered the supply of gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. According to reports from “Welt am Sonntag” and “Business Insider” the raw oil supply to Miro, Germany’s largest refinery located near Karlsruhe, was interrupted for several days.
A spokesperson for Miro confirmed that the refinery operated on its existing raw oil reserves for three days, as it received no raw oil through the TAL pipeline by approximately 2:00 AM on March 30th. The Bayernoil refinery also faced issues due to the supply failure, forcing its sites in Neustadt and Vohburg, Bavaria, to cover the delivery interruption using local stockpiles for three days.
The newspapers attributed the pipeline failure to an attack on the electrical power supply of a pumping station near Terzo di Tolmezzo in the Italian Alps. Two independent sources confirmed to “Welt am Sonntag” and “Business Insider” that the pipeline outage was the result of sabotage. German authorities were informed about the incident by Italian authorities.
A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is in contact with the Italian authorities regarding the incident. The ministry stated that whether it was a politically motivated attack on critical infrastructure was “subject to further investigation by the Italian authorities”.
The spokesperson for the Miro refinery also stated that “all products remained fully available” during the pipeline outage, meaning there were no restrictions on fuel supply to gas stations. However, it remained unclear how long the refinery could have continued supplying from its local storage tanks. Miro is currently “gradually rebuilding its raw oil reserves” following the repair of the pumping station.
Miro reportedly supplies ten million people daily with fuels and heating oil, as well as thousands of households in Karlsruhe with district heating. Statistically, the products from the Miro refinery cover about 45 percent of the total primary energy demand in Baden-Württemberg.
