What goes in Poland on 9th of August.
Another record-breaking period at Poland’s Naftoport
In the first half of 2023 the Naftoport in Gdańsk recorded a higher oil turnover in comparison to 2019 by a million tons. The abandonment of Russian oil in the region drives transshipment from other directions through the Polish window to the world.
The Polish Naftoport owned by PERN handled almost 18 million tons of oil and fuels more in the first half of 2023 than in the whole of 2019. At that time, supplies of contaminated oil from Russia through the Friendship Pipeline were stopped for 49 days. Imports to Poland took place only through the Naftoport. Despite that, the results of the first half of this year were better than in 2019. In the past six months, 222 tankers arrived in Gdańsk, while in 2022 there were 163.
Such a great interest in the Polish window to the world with oil from outside Russia justifies the expansion to new transshipment capacities and warehouses. The terminal is to receive a sixth transshipment station, which will be its second with the option of receiving fuel from VLCC-class tankers. Its capacity is 9 million tons per year.
The Naftoport supplies markets in Poland and Germany, which after the Russian invasion of Ukraine dropped oil from Russia. The Russian blend has not reached Germany since the end of 2022, excluding supplies from Kazakhstan through Russia via the Friendship Oil Pipeline. Poland has not received Russian oil since March 2023, when the Russians violated the Tatneft-Orlen contract, stopping deliveries and giving grounds for its termination.
Wojeciech Jakóbik
Bills are killing energy intensive industries, but the government wants to provide support
Power intensive industries are one of the biggest victims of the energy crisis. The sector is dependent on the price of energy, and its increase causes a jump in the price of materials, which drives inflation. The government intends to introduce a support mechanism for as a remedy.
Today the government will look into a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers on support for energy intensive industries in connection with natural gas and electricity prices in 2023, according to the agenda of the Council of Ministers.
The draft resolution, prepared in the Ministry of Development and Technology, provides for the provision of support to partially cover the costs of rising energy and gas prices incurred in 2023.
To enhance liquidity, the aid will be paid in two rounds – for the first and second half of 2023. The planned budget for providing assistance under the program is PLN 5.5 billion.
Interestingly, this is not the first mechanism of government support for the sector. Last year, as part of support for energy intensive industries in connection with the increase in gas and electricity prices, assistance was provided to 195 entities for a total amount of PLN 2.3 billion. The volume of electricity, the purchase of which was co – financed in the program amounted to 12.5 terawatt-hours (TWh), and the amount of natural gas-28 TWh.
The largest amounts of support went to the foundry sector (approx. 702 million PLN), chemical sector (approx. 460 million PLN), ceramic and refractory products (approx. 396 million PLN) and glass production (approx. 281 million).
IBSnews / Jacek Perzyński
PERN fixed the Friendship Oil Pipeline. A special committee will examine the causes behind the problem.
On Monday the technical services of PERN restored the full functionality of the damaged thread of the Friendship Oil Pipeline. Now the company will focus on cleaning the site and restoring it to its proper condition. A special committee will investigate the causes behind this incident.
On Saturday evening, PERN reported that the company’s automation systems detected a crack in the underground Friendship Oil Pipeline in the municipality of Chodecz, on one of the two threads of the western section of the main line through which oil is delivered to Germany. At the time, the company reported that the pumping was turned off immediately. It was noted that the second thread of the pipeline is working normally.
Upon detection of the pipeline rupture, PERN sent its services to the site, including maintenance workers, environmental protection and the plant fire brigade. On Sunday – as reported by the company-these services reached the damaged part of the pipe and began preparations for its repair. Then the damaged part of the pipeline was cut off. On Monday they started replacing the cracked section with a new pipe. The reclamation of the site after the spill and determining the owners of the plots to work out potential compensation have also begun.
The recovery operation has been ongoing since the incident was detected on Saturday evening. All services of the company participated in the work. Currently, the activity of PERN in the municipality of Chodecz focuses on cleaning the area and bringing it to a proper condition. PERN’s environmental services and a specialist remediation company remain on site.
An accident commission was set up in the company to determine the causes that led to the rupture.
PERN / Jacek Perzyński