Russia supplies 4.8 mln tonnes oil, 8.6 bcm gas to Hungary in 2024

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto discussed developing bilateral trade and economic relations, and the terms for broader Russian-Hungarian cooperation in oil, gas, and energy projects, at a meeting, as per Interfax.

They also touched on the terms for Russian oil and gas supplies to Hungary, and on nuclear sector cooperation.

Russia supplied 4.78 million tonnes of oil to Hungary via the southern branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline in 2024 and 956,000 tonnes in January-February 2025. Novak emphasized a commitment to dependable energy supplies for Budapest and willingness to make every effort to ensure that supplies to partners remain undisrupted and predictable.

Russian supplied a record 8.6 bcm of gas to Hungary in 2024, and 1.18 bcm as of March 1, 2025. "This result not only indicates a high degree of coordination, but also demonstrates our common commitment to energy security," Novak said.

"We highly appreciate the Hungarian leadership's balanced and objective foreign policy line. Thanks to your ever constructive position, we are able to cooperate successfully and resolve all issues that arise, despite the challenging international situation. In today's conditions it would make sense to continue to implement existing agreements in strategic areas, and to preserve and augment the whole package of good bilateral practices in all areas of Russian-Hungarian cooperation. Russia is firmly committed to furthering pragmatic and mutually beneficial relations with Hungary," Novak said.

"Hungary counts on continuing energy cooperation with Russia and values its results - stable oil and gas supplies that ensure our country's energy security. We welcome the ongoing Paks-2 NPP construction project and are focused on dialogue to resolve the project's financing issues in light of external restrictions," Szijjarto was quoted as saying.

Szijjarto said later that the work of Hungarian oil company MOL in Russia was also discussed at the meeting. "The good news is that MOL's operations in Russia have been very successful, which opens up the opportunity to expand its presence in Russia," Szijjarto said on social media account.

The MOL group's sole asset in Russia is the BaiTex oil production project at the Baituganskoye field in the Orenburg region. The Hungarian company controls 51% of it through the MK Oil and Gas B.V. According to MOL data, BaiTex produced 3,500 boe per day in 2024, down from 3,800 boe in 2023.

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Hungary's MOL is interested in joining new gas and oil projects in Russia, but specific options still need to be looked at, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters following the State Duma's consideration of the government's report for last year, as per Interfax.

"New projects have not been identified, but in general we are thinking of broadening cooperation between our countries in the energy sector, since our cooperation is mainly related to energy supplies. There is a joint project to build a nuclear power plant, which is being delivered. And there is an upstream project in our country, in which MOL is involved," Novak said.

"Since MOL is an oil and gas company, they are ready to work in any sector. We will look at various options. We are positive about expanding cooperation with our partners," Novak said.

We remind, MOL has signed an agreement with Japan's Eneos Materials Corporation to sell MOL's 49% stake in the joint venture Eneos MOL Synthetic Rubber.

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Epigral Ltd. (Mumbai), formerly known as Meghmani Finechem Ltd., has commissioned chlorotoluenes unit at its Dahej, Gujarat state, site, as per Chemweek.

Other details of the project were not disclosed. The unit will supply intermediates for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals industries.

The company’s research and development (R&D) center in Ahmedabad discovers new molecules within the chlorotoluene ecosystem and further establish advanced specialty intermediates. The R&D center develops molecules for manufacturing pharmaceutical and agchems active ingredients.

Epigral is India’s leading manufacturer of caustic soda, chlorine and hydrogen. It also manufactures caustic potash, chloromethanes and hydrogen peroxide.

We remind, Epigral Ltd, a leading player in the specialty chemicals sector, is targeting a 20% annual growth rate and expects its revenue to more than double by FY2028, according to a statement from the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, Maulik Patel. The company plans to achieve this ambitious growth through sustained demand for derivative and specialty products, alongside an expansion of its production capacity.

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Eneos Corp. has decided to phase out the production of lubricants and fuels at its Yokohama, Japan, site between January 2026 and March 2028, as per Chemweek.

The company’s lubricants and grease production capacities at Yokohama are 126,000 kiloliters per year and 3,900 metric tons per year, respectively.

The company plans to relocate production of lubricants from Yokohama to its other production sites.

“As a result of comprehensive consideration of various environments surrounding the petroleum refining and marketing business, including the structural decline of domestic demand for petroleum products and severe international competition mainly in Asia, the company has determined that there is an urgent need to restructure the production and supply network of its refineries and plants,” Eneos said.

The company last February decided to suspend operations at one of its two naphtha crackers at Kawasaki, Japan, by the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028. The cracker to be idled is designed to produce 448,000 metric tons per year of ethylene and 260,000 metric tons per year of propylene.

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Moeve SA (Madrid), formerly known as Cepsa, has joined the Global Impact Coalition (GIC), according to a GIC statement March 26. Moeve’s membership expands GIC’s reach further upstream in the value chain, bringing expertise from the energy sector into sustainable chemical production, GIC said.

“This partnership highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration in developing sustainable and commercially viable solutions to reduce emissions across the chemical industry, accelerating the transition to a circular and low-carbon economy,” GIC added.

Moeve’s 2030 Positive Motion strategy includes an €8-billion investment plan, with over 60% dedicated to sustainable businesses such as green hydrogen, second-generation biofuels, and renewable chemicals.

"Sustainability requires deep collaboration across industries and joining the Global Impact Coalition enables us to work alongside leading companies in the chemical value chain to accelerate sustainable transformation," Jose Maria Solana, executive vice president/chemicals at Moeve.

Moeve will participate in multiple working groups as part of GIC, starting with sustainable olefins, GIC said. This collaboration will enable Moeve to continue advancing on the development of technologies to produce sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF), it said.

“At Moeve, we consider joining this platform very positive, as it will allow us to delve into the study and promotion of synthetic fuels such as e-SAF, whose importance will increase in the coming years in line with the goals set by the EU and our strategy to help decarbonize our clients,” said Carlos Barrasa, executive vice president/commercial and clean energies at Moeve.

GIC is a CEO-led collaborative platform committed to enabling a net-zero chemicals future. BASF SE, Covestro AG, LyondellBasell NV, Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Sabic, Suez and Syensqo SA/NV are some of its members.

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