What happened

A support of Terna's 132 kV Tolmezzo–Paluzza line no. 416 was damaged at Tolmezzo, cutting power to a pumping station on the Transalpine Pipeline and slowing crude flows north for around three days. The pipeline itself was not struck; the target was the electricity supply the pumps depend on. Germany's largest refinery, MiRO at Karlsruhe, received no crude for several days and ran on reserve stock, and Bayernoil also drew on reserves. TAL carries roughly 40% of Germany's crude needs, about 90% of Austria's and more than half of the Czech Republic's. The operator initially denied that sabotage had occurred; Italian prosecutors in Trieste and the Carabinieri ROS subsequently opened an investigation, reported to involve Italian and German intelligence. No perpetrator had been identified in the reviewed reporting, so no attribution is recorded.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.