NIS Seeks New US Waiver to Keep Serbian Refinery Operating After September 30

NIS submits a new license request

Naftna industrija Srbije, or NIS, has submitted a new request to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a special license permitting the company to continue operating after September 30. The current license expires on that date, making the US regulator’s decision central to the company’s ability to maintain normal operations.

According to press.rs, NIS said an extension was essential for the company’s uninterrupted business, the regular operation of the Pančevo oil refinery and the reliable supply of Serbia’s domestic market. The company identified continued fuel availability as a priority and linked the refinery’s operation directly to the country’s energy stability.

Pančevo refinery and distribution face uncertainty

Without another license, NIS could face interruptions at the Pančevo refinery and in the distribution of petroleum products throughout Serbia, press.rs reported. That would make the consequences broader than the position of one company: refinery operations, wholesale deliveries and the availability of fuel to consumers and businesses could all be affected.

The source material does not specify when OFAC will decide, how long the requested license would remain valid or what operational restrictions would apply. It also provides no figures for refinery capacity, crude inventories, fuel stocks or the share of Serbian demand supplied by NIS. These omissions make it impossible to quantify how quickly a failure to extend the license would affect the market or how much alternative supply Serbia might require.

Fuel security depends on the US decision

The license allows NIS to continue operating despite international restrictions. Its expiry therefore creates a direct regulatory risk for Serbia’s fuel system: a delay or rejection could interfere with crude supply, refining and the movement of finished products, while approval would preserve the legal basis for continued operations under the applicable restrictions.

For producers, fuel distributors and industrial buyers, the immediate issue is continuity rather than price direction. The available report provides no fuel-price data and no evidence of an existing physical shortage, so any assessment of price effects would be premature. Market participants will instead be watching the timing and terms of the OFAC response, as well as NIS’s ability to keep the Pančevo refinery and its distribution network functioning after September 30. Until a decision is issued, Serbia’s domestic fuel supply remains exposed to a regulatory deadline outside the country.