What goes on in Poland on the 15th of December.
Lotos signs first forward contract for US crude
Grupa Lotos S.A. has signed a forward contract for the supply of US crude oil to its Gdańsk refinery. Under the contract, at least five cargoes of oil will be delivered by sea in 2018.
“It is the first forward contract for US oil delivery in the history of Poland.For more than a year, Lotos has been consistently pursuing its strategy to increase Poland’s energy security by importing oil from new, safe supply sources,” says Marcin Jastrzębski, President of the Grupa Lotos Management Board.
“The contract will certainly contribute to building Poland’s energy independence and strengthening its energy security.Consistent diversification of energy supply sources is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Energy’s policy,and business decisions made by state-owned companies are a vital element of its implementation,” says Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Minister of Energy.
At present, every fifth barrel of oil processed by the Lotos refinery is imported from sources other than the markets east of Poland. Diversified supply sources are important means to ensure the stability of oil supplies to the Grupa Lotos refinery and optimise production costs.
Under spot contracts, the Company imported Hibernia crude oil from Canada in September, Domestic Sweet (DSW) from the United States in November, and another tanker with a cargo of WTI Midland is expected in the coming days. Each cargo of oil was delivered by sea through Naftoport in Gdańsk. Earlier, Lotos processed crude oil also from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Latin America and North and West Africa. In its day-to-day refining operations, Lotos also uses oil produced by the Lotos Group’s subsidiaries from their own fields in the Baltic Sea and in Lithuania, oil from other onshore producers in Poland, as well as North Sea oil.
Unipetrol limits Litvinov Refinery operations after fire
Unipetrol limited operations at its Litvinov plant on Tuesday after a morning fire at its partial oxidation (POX) unit, the Czech refiner said. Unipetrol said the POX unit would be repaired and put back into operation in the coming weeks. Units producing hydrogen and ammonia have been shut down for the time being, it said.
“The precise impact on Litvinov refinery’s utilization and the estimated financial loss of Unipetrol… is subject to further evaluation and analysis,” a spokesman said.
The fire caused damage to the POX unit’s pipeline, cabling and insulation. Unipetrol added the incident posed no danger to health or the environment.