The major operator of oil pipelines in Ukraine Ukrtransnafta (wholly owned by Naftogaz Ukrainy) saw a reduction in the shipment of oil in the first half of 2010 by 25.9 percent to 14.88 million tons, according to the country’s Fuel and Energy Ministry.

The transit of oil across Ukrainian territory went down in the first two quarters of the year to 10.195 million tons. The deliveries of crude oil to Ukrainian refineries through the Ukrtransnafta network were down 8.6 percent year-on-year to 4.686 million tons.

Shipments of oil through the Druzhba pipeline were reduced 20.6 percent to 10.369 million tons. The Prydniprovskiy branch of Ukrtransnafta experienced a 35.6 percent decline in shipments to 4.511 million tons.

The volume of oil shipped through Ukrtransnafta’s network in 2009 was 5.9 percent lower than in 2008 – around 38.535 million tons. The volume of oil transiting Ukraine in 2009 went down by 11.4 percent to 29.117 million tons.