V4 emergency response exercise

On 19 June 2019 Emergency Oil Stocks Agency (EOSA) organized emergency response exercise of V4 countries in the area of oil security. EOSA organised the exercise within the framework of official program of the Slovak Republic’s presidency in Vysegrad group and it was attended by representatives of respective entities from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Besides representatives of EOSA the Slovak Republic was represented also by experts from the Administration of State Material Reserves, Ministry of Economy and companies Transpetrol and Slovnaft.

Besides the exercise this meeting was also good opportunity to discuss last month’s real emergency situation that was the disruption of crude oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline due to its contamination, which affected the V4 countries the most. Thus first part of the meeting was dedicated to exchange of experience from this emergency situation, presentation of solutions implemented in individual countries and evaluation of lessons learned and possible measures to prevent similar situations in the future.

Second part of the meeting was the emergency response exercise, which comprised of presentation of hypothetical scenario of supplies disruption and subsequent simulation of this emergency situation solution. As the V4 countries had recently the opportunity to solve the crude oil disruption in real life, the hypothetical scenario on this exercise was aimed at disruption of petroleum products.

Oil supply disruptions in a globalised market usually exceed national borders and affect at least entire regions. Coordination of emergency response measures between neighbouring countries can greatly increase effectiveness of solutions in individual countries. Therefore we believe that similar meetings will contribute to develop mutual relations between relevant institutions of V4 countries, what might help in concerted solution of crisis situations in the area of oil security in the future.