JANAF closes pipeline to Serbia after Nova Gradiska leak
The Croatian operator estimates about 500,000 liters of oil escaped from the pipe, and crude deliveries to the Pancevo refinery wait on repairs.
About 500 cubic meters of oil, or 500,000 liters, has leaked into the surroundings from the Sisak-Slavonski Brod pipeline, which carries crude to the Pancevo refinery, JANAF estimated. The pipe was damaged on Friday, November 6, and the pipeline remains closed.
What happened near the village of Prvca
The damage occurred at kilometer 88 of the section, near the village of Prvca close to Nova Gradiska, not far from the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. An outside contractor was carrying out revitalization work on the pipeline, and the bucket of a work machine came into contact with a piece of equipment on the line. Ivan Cvitanovic, director of JANAF’s Safety and Security Sector, said responsibility will be established later.
Oil transport was halted immediately by closing the Okucani and Luzani block stations. The damage was sealed over the course of Saturday. The first unofficial figures put the spill at about 50,000 liters, ten times less than the estimate the company later gave.
How much oil has been recovered and how long cleanup will take
By Saturday about 200 cubic meters had been collected. The rest is being gathered over the coming days and returned to JANAF’s system, after which the contaminated soil will be replaced. Collection should take a few more days, and the whole cleanup about ten days. Cvitanovic told Croatian media:
We estimate that about 500 cubic meters of oil leaked out. We hope to clean it up in the next few days.
Croatian Waters estimates that about 6,000 square meters of farmland and about 600 square meters of the slope and bed of the Masicki stream are contaminated. A State Inspectorate inspector is on site, and once the oil has been collected an independent laboratory will take soil samples.
What it means for deliveries to Serbia
For Serbia, what matters is the supply, because this pipeline brings crude to the NIS refinery in Pancevo. None of the sources consulted says when deliveries to Pancevo will resume. Cvitanovic said only that the customer is waiting for the repair:
We have a contract with Naftna industrija Srbije, and they are eagerly awaiting the repair.
Our earlier piece on NIS dealt with the American license: OFAC gave MOL a license for NIS until February 28, 2027.
Health and water: the figures differ
The mayor of Nova Gradiska, Sabina Vlaovic, said about fifteen people came to the emergency room. Ante Cvitkovic, director of the Teaching Institute of Public Health of Brod-Posavina County, spoke of about ten people with dizziness and headaches, two of whom received an IV drip. JANAF says there were no injuries during the incident and the cleanup.
Croatian Waters have so far found no contamination of surface or groundwater. Vlaovic said one water source is about 15 kilometers from the site of the leak and another about 20 kilometers, but warned that water from private wells should be checked by analysis. JANAF said in a statement:
There is no danger to the population, nor is the drinking water supply under threat.
On the smell of oil, which worries residents, the company says it cannot prevent it:
We are aware of the local residents’ concern about the smell of oil. There are no technical measures that can be applied to prevent unpleasant odors from spreading from the affected area.
JANAF announced that it will inform the public about further findings on its website.
