Can U.S. Economic Sanctions against the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad) Cause Blackouts of Electric Power Systems in the Western Balkan Countries?

U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed sanctions on Russian petroleum companies in January 2025, but for the petroleum industry of Serbia (NIS JSC Novi Sad), they were postponed repeatedly before finally took effect on October 9, 2025. In particular, PJSC Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS JSC Novi Sad, followed by Serbian government with 29.87%, JSC Intelligence with 11.3%, and small shareholders with 13.98%. Because of this, Pančevo Oil Refinery ran out of crude oil and stopped its operation on December 2, 2025. However, NIS JSC Novi Sad produces not only petroleum derivatives but also significant amounts of electricity. Part of this electricity is used by NIS JSC Novi Sad in various production processes, while the surplus is sold to the state-owned Joint Stock Company Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS JSC) and other foreign companies. In 2024, NIS JSC Novi Sad sold a total of 1124.864 GWh to EPS JSC and other companies. This is 3.53% of the total electricity generation of EPS JSC in the same year. In addition to the aforementioned OFAC sanctions, electricity blackouts (power outages) occurred in the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia) on June 21, 2024, as well as in Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025. It seems that the occurrence of such electricity blackouts is becoming a reality that European countries will face in the future. In this regard, it is obvious that OFAC sanctions affect the security of electricity supply in Serbia and may contribute to creating preconditions for an electricity blackout. Although the 2024 blackout did not spread to Serbia, under such circumstances, a subsequent electricity blackout could involve an even larger number of countries in the Western Balkans and beyond. Therefore, this editorial aims to encourage researchers to think and write about how economic sanctions on petroleum companies that generate electricity can affect the stability of electricity supply and cause blackouts.