According to Serbian Economist, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić confirmed that the NIS oil refinery in Pančevo has been switched to reduced circulation mode due to oil shortages caused by US sanctions and uncertainty surrounding the OFAC license.
Vucic said: “The plant has not been shut down yet, but has been put into circulation mode. This is a lower operating mode compared to normal.”
According to Vucic, without the extension of the OFAC special license allowing NIS to operate, the refinery will be completely shut down in about four days.
He also said that he had offered the government another 50 days to find a buyer for NIS, rather than nationalizing it.
According to NIS, the process is being carried out in accordance with Serbian law, internal regulations, and “strict environmental and safety standards.”
The plant will be maintained in a state ready to start up as soon as access to oil becomes available.
At the same time, NIS emphasizes that
fuel supplies to the domestic market in Serbia are currently running smoothly thanks to pre-formed reserves.
The company hopes for a speedy return to normal operations at the refinery, which is “important not only for Serbia but also for regional markets.”
It is noted separately that the shutdown of the refinery will also affect HIP Petrohemija, which will also begin preparations to halt production.
In early 2025, NIS, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, was added to the US SDN list. OFAC issued a special license until February 13, 2026, allowing shareholders to negotiate a change in ownership structure.
Last week, NIS submitted a new request to OFAC for a special license to ensure normal operations during the negotiation period.
Energy Minister Dubravka Jedovic-Handanovic said that the Russian owners had agreed to sell 56.15% of NIS to a third party, but the name of the potential buyer has not been disclosed – “negotiations are underway between serious companies.”
NIS is the only company in Serbia engaged in oil and gas exploration and production. It owns a large oil refinery in Pančevo, dominates the country’s petroleum products market, and has a network of more than 400 gas stations in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Romania.
Since 2009, according to the company, more than €900 million has been invested in the modernization of the Pančevo refinery.
If the OFAC license is not renewed and oil supplies are not resumed, Serbia may be left without its own refining capacity and become more dependent on imports of finished petroleum products. Not only energy security but also the industrial chain (NIS + HIP Petrohemija) will be under threat.
A successful deal to withdraw Russian capital and bring in a third investor could preserve the refinery as a regional processing center and reduce the risk of sanctions.
For Serbian Economist, this is a key case for the coming weeks: the OFAC decision and the parties’ willingness to close the NIS deal will determine the state of the Balkan oil market as early as 2026.
State-owned Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. will build an island to create a launch pad for accelerating oil and gas exploration. The artificial island will be located approximately 30 kilometers off the coast of the southern province of Sindh, near the city of Sajawal, PPL’s chief executive officer for exploration and core business development, Arshad Palekar, told Bloomberg. According to him, this will prevent tidal waves from interrupting round-the-clock geological exploration work.
This project, the first of its kind for Pakistan, is based on the experience of Abu Dhabi, where artificial islands for drilling have been successfully built, Paleekar said.
Construction of the island will be completed in February, and operations will begin immediately after that, he added. The company plans to drill about 25 wells.
Drilling operations in Pakistan are gaining momentum after US President Donald Trump expressed interest in the country’s “huge oil reserves” in July. Since then, offshore exploration licenses have been issued to local companies PPL, Mari Energies Ltd. and Prime International Oil and Gas Co.
British company Pennpetro Energy Plc (PPP) has announced the signing of the main terms for the acquisition of a 100% license for oil and gas exploration in the Limnytskyi area in Ivano-Frankivsk region through the Polish holding company Target, which was recently established for this purpose.
“The license being acquired by the company is a little-explored, large-scale and highly promising project, the development of which is expected to make a significant contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence and sovereignty,” PPP said in a stock exchange announcement.
The company intends to immediately recommission one of the previously abandoned wells and conduct 3D seismic surveys before starting to drill a second well in the near future, which is expected to have a high probability of success.
The 172 sq km Limnitsky oil and gas field is located in the Carpathian Basin, where more than 100 oil and gas fields have currently been discovered.
“Obtaining the basic terms of the license for the Limnitsky field in Ukraine is a turning point for our business. It adds an extremely promising asset to our growing portfolio and opens up the opportunity to develop this field,” said PPP Chairman Stephen Lunn.
According to him, Pennpetro Energy’s capital requirements associated with this license are minimal, and the company has significant growth potential.
According to NADRA info, a special permit for oil and gas exploration and production in the Limnitskaya area was issued in 2007 to Geoposuk LTD, which remains an active subsoil user after the recent cancellation of the order of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine to revoke the permit.
In April 2023, Derzhgeonadra filed a lawsuit against Geoposuk LTD in the Ivano-Frankivsk District Administrative Court, demanding that the special permit for subsoil use be revoked. The basis for this was that among the ultimate beneficial owners of the company there is allegedly a citizen of the Russian Federation.
In July 2023, the court of first instance upheld the lawsuit, recognizing the permit as invalid, and in February 2024, the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal left this decision unchanged. In compliance with the court decisions, the State Geological Service issued an order on February 15, 2024, to revoke the permit.
However, on April 30, 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the lower courts, recognizing that the revocation had been carried out in violation of the law, as a result of which Gosgeonedra revoked the previous order on May 5, 2025.
Pennpetro Energy Plc is a public company registered in 2016 in England and Wales. The company is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, focusing on onshore projects in Texas (USA), particularly in Gonzales County, where it owns rights to more than 2,500 acres. Pennpetro has a number of subsidiaries, including Pennpetro USA Corp., Nobel Petroleum LLC, and Pennpetro Greentec UK Limited.
In 2024, PPP reported revenue of approximately £0.5 million with a net loss of £8.9 million.
On October 16, Pennpetro Energy plc announced the appointment of Mauritius Kalugin as executive director and chief operating officer of the company. Until January 31, 2023, he held the position of executive director and chief operating officer of the Naftogaz group.
Ukraine has announced an international tender for the purchase of a modern multifunctional vessel for Danube ports, which will perform environmental, emergency rescue, and technical tasks.
According to a statement by the State Enterprise “Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority” (USPA), the vessel will be designed to operate in the ports of Izmail, Reni, and Ust-Dunaysk, which are currently key logistics hubs in the south of the country.
According to the technical specifications, the new vessel will be able to collect oil products and debris from the water surface, extinguish fires on ships and port facilities, and perform tugboat and mooring functions, assisting large ships in maneuvering.
The project is being implemented as part of the RELINC (Restoration of Essential Logistics Infrastructure and Network Connectivity) program with the support of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
Experts note that the new vessel will not only strengthen the port infrastructure, but will also be an important element of the environmental safety of the entire Danube.
Danube ports currently handle more than 40% of all Ukrainian agricultural exports and play a key role in international logistics, especially after the blockade of Black Sea routes.
The Danube is approximately 2,850 km long, the second longest river in Europe after the Volga.
The river basin flows through 10 countries — Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine — and flows into the Black Sea through the Danube Delta, part of which is located in the Odesa region.
According to estimates by the European Commission and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the level of pollution in the river remains moderate, but there is an accumulation of heavy metals, pesticides, and microplastics, especially in the tributaries.
The main sources of pollution are industrial discharges, agrochemicals, household waste, and shipping.
Oil prices rose moderately on Monday morning after last week’s gains.
The price of November Brent futures on the London ICE Futures exchange rose by $0.36 (0.54%) to $67.35 per barrel at 8:18 a.m. Last Friday, the contract rose by $0.62 (0.93%) to $66.99 per barrel.
WTI crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) electronic trading platform rose by $0.36 (0.57%) to $63.05 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the value of these contracts increased by $0.32 (0.51%) to $62.69 per barrel.
Both brands rose in price by more than 1% over the past week.
Market participants are following news of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, including large refineries and export terminals.
“Attacks on Russian energy infrastructure could reduce exports of Russian oil and refined products,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
IG analyst Tony Sicamore noted that if Ukraine continues to attack Russian export infrastructure, global oil price forecasts will be revised upward.
Meanwhile, data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes showed that the number of active oil rigs in the US increased by two last week to 417. The number of gas rigs remained unchanged at 118.
Oil prices continued to rise on Tuesday morning on fears of a reduction in global supplies in the event of new sanctions against Russia.
The price of November Brent futures on the London ICE Futures exchange rose by $0.48 (0.73%) to $66.5 per barrel as of 8:16 a.m. On Monday, the contract rose by $0.52 (0.79%) to $66.02 per barrel.
WTI crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose by $0.44 (0.71%) to $62.7 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the value of these contracts increased by $0.39 (0.63%) to $62.26 per barrel.
US President Donald Trump said last weekend that he was ready to introduce a second phase of restrictive measures against Russia. Meanwhile, the European Union is discussing a 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which will affect a number of banks and energy companies, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. According to them, some of the measures may be agreed with the US for the first time since Trump became president.
Meanwhile, ministers from eight OPEC+ countries participating in voluntary oil production cuts agreed last weekend to increase production in October by 137,000 bpd. This will be the first step in a partial return to the market of voluntary restrictions of 1.65 million bpd, which were to remain in effect until the end of 2026.
“The market priced in the production increase last week and is now watching to see if global fuel inventories start to rise, which could mean a reduction in spare production capacity in the future,” said Rebecca Babin of CIBC Private Wealth Group. “Such a rally, driven by a sense of relief, may briefly slow down the bearish trend, but only for a few days.”
