Hungary has agreed to purchase oil from the United States ahead of the parliamentary elections
The Hungarian company Mol Nyrt. has agreed to purchase 500,000 tons of oil for approximately $500 million from the United States. This was reported ahead of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Budapest on Tuesday, just days before Hungary’s crucial general election.
This was reported by sources at Bloomberg.
The deal will be officially announced at a joint press conference between the U.S. vice president and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. This is expected to be yet another attempt by Vance to support the Hungarian leader during the election process.
Previously, Mol actively purchased Russian oil, taking advantage of sanctions exemptions granted by both the U.S. and the European Union. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orbán further increased the country’s dependence on Russian energy and sought to establish ties with the Trump administration through energy deals.
“During a meeting at the White House in November, Orbán agreed to purchase 400 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas over five years, as well as to sign a $114 million contract with Westinghouse Electric Co. for the purchase of nuclear fuel for a Hungarian nuclear power plant,” sources note.
In exchange, the U.S. administration granted Hungary an exemption for purchasing Russian oil. The parties also signed a memorandum of understanding regarding Hungary’s potential acquisition of up to ten small modular nuclear reactors, which could cost up to $20 billion.
In addition, the U.S. is actively involved in Mol’s attempt to acquire a controlling stake in Gazprom Neft PJSC’s Serbian oil refinery, Naftna Industrija Srbije, which is subject to sanctions. Last month, Mol reported that the U.S. had extended the sanctions exemption for NIS until May 22 to give the company time to finalize the deal.
As a reminder, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán issued a decree halting the transit of natural gas to Ukraine through Hungarian territory starting in July.
