Central Europe Pipeline System
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox pipeline
| name = Central Europe Pipeline System
| type = Oil products
| photo = CEPS Untergruppenbach 20070818.jpg
| caption = CEPS pipeline marker near Untergruppenbach in Germany
| map =
| map_caption = Location of Central Europe Pipeline System
| country = Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands
| state =
| province =
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| through =
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| owner = NATO
| partners =
| operator = NATO Support Organisation / CEPS Programme
| technical_service_provider=
| contractors =
| construction=
| expected =
| est = 1959
| decom =
| length_km = 5314[http://www.nspa.nato.int/en/organization/CEPS/network.htm NATO.int – Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS) Network]
| discharge =
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The Central Europe Pipeline System (alternatively Central European Pipeline System), or CEPS for short, is one of several NATO Pipeline Systems and is used to deliver fuel for air and ground vehicles around Europe. Originally conceived for military purposes, it was to aid in safe and quick distribution of fuel for military purposes around Europe. The system consists of over {{convert|5314|km}} of pipeline running through Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Besides these host countries, the system is also used by the United States military.[http://www.nspa.nato.int/en/organization/ceps/ceps.htm NATO.int – Central Europe Pipeline System (CEPS) Programme Office]
Main feeder routes are:
- Marseille–Lyon–Langres–Nancy–Zweibrücken
- Amsterdam–Liège–Trier-Karlsruhe
- Le Havre/Dunkirk–Cambrai–Aachen/Reims–Belfort
{{Cite book
| last = Faringdon | first= Hugh
| title = Strategic geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the superpowers
| edition = 2
| publisher=Routledge
| pages = 187–188
| year = 1989
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A5g9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA187
| isbn = 978-0-415-00980-5
| accessdate = 17 January 2010}}
A similar system exists for the Northern European countries, known as the Northern European Pipeline System (NEPS).
In 2025, negotiatiations started to extend the network to other countries in Central Europe, including Schwedt (Germany) - Płock (Poland).{{cite news |last1=Jakóbik |first1=Wojciech |title=Paliwociąg NATO do Polski może zyskać wsparcie Europy |url=https://www.onet.pl/biznes/wojciech-jakobik-blog/paliwociag-nato-do-polski-moze-zyskac-wsparcie-europy-opinia/d3rygp9,0666d3f1 |access-date=20 March 2025 |date=20 March 2025}}
History
File:NATO Pipeline France and neighbouring countries.png
The pipeline system was founded in the late 1950s by NATO being funded as part of the NATO Common Infrastructure Program, with the various participating countries already having some of the infrastructure and capabilities required to operate such a system.
In the 1980s, the pipeline was attacked several times by terrorist organizations. The Belgian communist terrorist organisation Communist Combatant Cells carried out five bombings against the pipeline on 11 December 1984, and one more attack on 6 December 1985. Earlier that year, in April 1985, a bomb attack was carried out against a part of the pipeline in Southern-Germany by Red Army Faction sympathisers.
{{Cite book
| editor-last = Crenshaw | editor-first= Martha
| last = Merkl | first= Peter H.
| title = Terrorism in context
| chapter = West German Left-Wing Terrorism
| publisher=Penn State University Press
| pages = 168–169
| year = 1995
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=z9GG4__JJNwC&pg=PA168
| isbn = 978-0-271-01015-1
| accessdate = 17 January 2010}}
{{Cite book
| last1 = Alexander | first1 = Yonah
| last2 = Pluchinsky | first2 = Dennis A.
| title = Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations
| publisher=Routledge
| page = 188
| year = 1992
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mdNcZ_pmpUUC&pg=PA188
| isbn = 978-0-7146-3488-3
| accessdate = 17 January 2010}}
At the end of the Cold War the system was significantly reduced as various military airports that used the system were closed, such as Bitburg Air Base and Soesterberg Air Base. However, in some other places expansion of the pipeline continued and in October 2008 construction of {{convert|80|km}} of additional pipeline was completed between Aalen and Leipheim.[http://www.terrwv.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/terrwv/!ut/p/c4/NYuxDoJAEAX_aPfAEI0dRCtCpYlgtx4buHjckXWBxo_3KHyTTDN5-MREoNUNpC4G8thiZ935tYGyyLYCvXVh7_kDgewozo7KkBtzwsf-7RlsDKy7lYO65EFIo8AcRf1eFpFUwPXYmexSmYP5L_se63vVtHlR1LfyivM0lT8QOeK7/ Bundeswehr.de – NATO-Pipeline nach 30 Jahren endlich komplett] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428042420/http://www.terrwv.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/terrwv/%21ut/p/c4/NYuxDoJAEAX_aPfAEI0dRCtCpYlgtx4buHjckXWBxo_3KHyTTDN5-MREoNUNpC4G8thiZ935tYGyyLYCvXVh7_kDgewozo7KkBtzwsf-7RlsDKy7lYO65EFIo8AcRf1eFpFUwPXYmexSmYP5L_se63vVtHlR1LfyivM0lT8QOeK7/ |date=28 April 2013 }} (German only), article retrieved 26 August 2012.
Since 1959, excess capacity of the pipeline may be used by civilian users. Currently, around 90% of the fuel transported through the system is for civilian users, customers including various large European airports such as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Brussels Airport, Frankfurt am Main Airport, Luxembourg Airport, Cologne Bonn Airport and Zürich Airport.
The operating company for German territory is Fernleitungsbetriebsgesellschaft GmbH (FBG) headquartered in Bad Godesberg and established in 1956.[http://www.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/bwde/!ut/p/c4/NYzBCsIwEET_KJtCoOhNrYKXetR626axXUyTsG6bix9venAGhoHHDDyhOOBKIwrFgB4e0Fna91n1eXBqdZzRyxJGFZPQTI5Lz8TysRO-xJOd3o4E7ttRGdgYnGwpLgiVHBklskqRxW9kYS5E0QCdrppjVeu_qm99PjXG7Iy-tpcbpHk-_ADZyXQ6/ www.bundeswehr.de]. Retrieved 2013-04-07. FBG is a parent of Industrieverwaltungsgesellschaft (IVG). In war times, it is operated by the armed forces of the NATO countries where the part of the pipeline is located.
For Belgium, the operating company Belgian Pipeline Organisation (BPO) is headquartered in Leuven. BPO is part of the Belgian Defense.
In the Netherlands, the pipelines are operated by the Defense Pipeline Organisation (DPO). DPO is part of the Dutch Ministry of Defence.