Russia’s Druzhba oil exports to Hungary, Slovakia back to normal levels in May, sources say

June 3 (Reuters) - Russia's oil exports to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were restored to normal levels of 165,000 barrels per day in May, three industry sources said on Wednesday.

Slovakia and Hungary began receiving crude oil through the pipeline on April 23 following a months-long outage. May is the first full month of oil delivery via the route following its resumption.

Hungary and Slovakia received just 55,000 bpd in April, according to the sources when the route was online for just one week. 

While flows through the pipeline are now unrestricted, May deliveries were below the levels of 200,000 to 235,000 bpd seen prior to the suspension, as states took steps to diversify their imports.

Hungarian oil company MOL, which owns refineries in both Hungary and Slovakia, told Reuters it had purchased 10 different types of crude this year in line with a diversified procurement strategy it plans to continue.

"Fortunately, both the eastern and southern crude oil pipelines are currently operating without disruption, and we are exploring additional pipeline connections, such as the possibility of using the route through Odessa in the future," it said. 

The Druzhba pipeline flow was halted in late January due to damage which Ukraine blamed on a Russian air strike. Ukraine completed repairs to the pipeline in April.

Russia currently supplies oil to Hungary and Slovakia via Druzhba's southern leg under an exception from the EU sanctions implemented over Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Kazakhstan's oil transit via the northern Druzhba branch to Germany has, meanwhile, been halted since May due to what Russia said was a lack of "technical possibilities".

Russia's Transneft pipeline network has come under repeated attacks from Ukrainian drones this year as Kyiv steps up its strikes on Moscow's energy infrastructure. 

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Joe Bavier)