Disused Thessaloniki-to-Skopje pipeline reactivated
A disused oil pipeline linking Thessaloniki with Skopje in neighboring North Macedonia is being reactivated after 13 years.
Following extensive maintenance and upgrades, the 213.5-kilometer pipeline will be able to carry 2.5 million tons of crude oil, diesel and kerosene a year.
The pipeline owner is Vardax, a company 80% owned by Greece’s HELLENiQ Energy and 20% by the North Macedonian government. The infrastructure was built in 2002, to supply the OKTA refinery in Skopje. But in 2013 the refinery was deemed commercially non-viable and the pipeline – 70 kilometers of which run through northern Greece – stopped functioning.
Its revival is expected to contribute to the energy needs of the Balkans, making North Macedonia a regional hub.
Kathimerini
