As part of the energy sector of the economy, the oil industry is subject to intense interest from both the State and private capital. At present, characterised by high energy demands and limited resources, control of the energy sector is a strategic concern for each state. The main factors influencing developments in this area are efforts to ensure sufficient resources from multiple sources of energy sources in order to minimise the risks of dependence on one supplier of energy raw materials.
On the territory of the Slovak Republic they represent the oil industry, which includes the extraction, transport and processing of crude oil, especially nafta, a. s., and TRANSPETROL, a. s. and Slovnaft, a. s.. The volume of oil production on the territory of the Slovak Republic is marginal due to the needs of the economy, therefore its main source of oil is its imports mainly from the Russian Federation.
TRANSPETROL, a. s. is a company owning and operating an oil pipeline system on the territory of the Slovak Republic. Historically, it is linked to the construction of the Transit Pipeline Družba, its southern branch, which came from the territory of the former Soviet Union, through Belarus and Ukraine to the former Czechoslovakia, the second part of which was directed to Hungary. The first oil oil pipeline Družba to the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava was transported in February 1962. At the same time, the satellite is used to transport oil to a refinery in Lithuania to the Czech Republic. The northern branch of the Družba oil pipeline is heading from the territory of the former Soviet Union to Poland.
The Družba oil pipeline system on the territory of the Slovak Republic was built for the transport of oil in the volume of 20 million tonnes per year. Over the last three years, the annual volume of oil transported has been around 9 to 9,5 million tonnes.
In 1980, the Adria oil pipeline was put into operation, which continues through Croatia and Hungary from the Croatian port of Omišalj on the Adriatic coast, then feeds into the Družba pipeline. This pipeline allows the transport of oil from Omisalju to Ših in Slovakia after overcoming about 600 km. Its operation created important conditions for the Slovak Republic to diversify its oil supply and other opportunities for entry into new oil markets. The pipeline section leading from Blunt to Százhalombatty was completely refurbished in 2015 and its capacity increased from 3.5 million to 6 million t per year.
An important part of the oil industry in the Slovak Republic is spol. Slovnaft, a. s. in Bratislava, whose main activity consists in oil processing. At the same time, it deals with the area of storage of petroleum products, their distribution and wholesale. Retail sales are made through the largest network of petrol stations in the Slovak Republic. A significant part of Slovnaft's production goes to foreign markets.
TRANSPETROL, a. s. cooperates closely with partner transport companies, i.e. Transneft and Ukrtransnafta, in the transport of crude oil supplied from the Russian Federation, by MERO ČR in the transport of oil to the Czech Republic and mol in the transport of oil to Hungary or from Hungary to the territory of the Slovak Republic.
In 2013 TRANSPETROL, a. s. became a founding member of the International Association of Petroleum Transporters (IAOT) together with shipping companies in the Czech Republic-MERO and in the Russian Federation – Transnet . IAOT was established in Prague as an international voluntary non-profit NGO, which aims to support its members who do business in the field of transportation of oil and petroleum products and to effectively coordinate the efforts of its members to create the most effective conditions for this activity. Currently, the association brings together 9 members and 1 observer.