NATO is revitalizing its military fuel logistics by investing 27 billion euros over 30 years in an underground pipeline network across Europe’s eastern flank. The core is the Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS), about 5,300 km long, built during the Cold War, connecting refineries, ports, storage depots, and military and civilian airports across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It extends to 32 NATO member states. However, the pipeline currently ends mostly at the former inner-German border, excluding Poland, Baltic states, Romania, and Bulgaria. These Eastern states, bordering Russia, rely on roads and rails for supplies, considered vulnerable. NATO aims to build new pipelines and storage capacities extending eastward to Poland, Baltics, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey to secure deliveries of kerosene, diesel, and gasoline under conflict conditions. Polish authorities welcomed the project as a correction of Cold War-era strategic shortcomings, with work to integrate the network by 2025. Romanian officials also endorse the project, citing its importance for security amid drone threats linked to the Ukraine conflict. The pipeline program was officially approved by NATO on July 22, 2023, with financing through 2031, expecting annual investments up to 6.5 billion euros. This initiative forms a key element of NATO’s 'Fuel Supply Chain Capability.'

NATO is revitalizing its military fuel logistics by investing 27 billion euros over 30 years in an underground pipeline network across Europe’s eastern flank. The core is the Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS), about 5,300 km long, built during the Cold War, connecting refineries, ports, storage depots, and military and civilian airports across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It extends to 32 NATO member states. However, the pipeline currently ends mostly at the former inner-German border, excluding Poland, Baltic states, Romania, and Bulgaria. These Eastern states, bordering Russia, rely on roads and rails for supplies, considered vulnerable. NATO aims to build new pipelines and storage capacities extending eastward to Poland, Baltics, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey to secure deliveries of kerosene, diesel, and gasoline under conflict conditions. Polish authorities welcomed the project as a correction of Cold War-era strategic shortcomings, with work to integrate the network by 2025. Romanian officials also endorse the project, citing its importance for security amid drone threats linked to the Ukraine conflict. The pipeline program was officially approved by NATO on July 22, 2023, with financing through 2031, expecting annual investments up to 6.5 billion euros. This initiative forms a key element of NATO’s 'Fuel Supply Chain Capability.'