Polish Briefing: Orlen’s oil deal with BP I Polenergia’s cash injection I OSGE’S SMR locations

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Oil tanker with a load for PKN Orlen from the USA mooring in Naftoport. Picture by PKN Orlen
Oil tanker with a load for PKN Orlen from the USA mooring in Naftoport. Picture by PKN Orlen

Orlen to buy 15% of oil from BP

Orlen signed a contract with BP on the supply of up to six million tons of oil from the North Sea through terminals in Gdańsk and Butynga, Lithuania. This covers about 15 percent of the demand.

The Orlen Group has signed a contract for further supplies of oil from Norwegian deposits in the North Sea. „The agreement signed with BP provides for the delivery of more than six million tons of the raw material during the year for the needs of the refinery,” the statement reads. The first shipment of oil, which will be delivered from the North Sea through terminals in Gdańsk and Butynga, is expected to take place at the turn of August and September 2023.

„The purchase of raw materials from Norwegian deposits is another example of our effective diversification of oil supplies. The expansion of the portfolio with additional volumes from the North Sea guarantees a stable supply to our refineries and, as a result, uninterrupted fuel supplies to all Orlen stations in the region. We are successfully strengthening relations with the world’s largest oil producers and securing new supply routes. This is the result of the creation of a robust multi-energy concern, which has a stronger position in trade negotiations. We are active all over the world and use our potential to develop extensive cooperation with suppliers from Europe and beyond the continent. This allowed us in Poland to become completely independent of Russian raw materials, increasing the energy security of the entire region. The contract with BP can potentially be a starting point for further cooperation, also in areas related to the commitment of both companies to the energy transition,” said Daniel Obajtek, CEO of Orlen.

In February 2022, a few days after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Orlen stopped importing Russian oil by sea. In the first quarter of 2023, the Group did not extend the contract with Rosneft and terminated the contract with Tatneft, one of the leading oil suppliers in Russia.

Orlen receives several types of oil from deposits in the North Sea, such as Forties, Oseberg, Johan Sverdrup, Troll, Grane, Brent and Ekofisk. It also imports raw materials from West Africa: Forcados and Bonny Light blends. Also in the supply basket are WTI, Bakken and Mars mined in the United States.

Orlen Group / Jędrzej Stachura

Undisclosed locations for SMRs revealed

„In April 2023, companies whose names point to the planned, but not yet announced, locations where ORLEN Synthos Green Energy would like to build GE-Hitachi’s BWRX-300 reactors have been added to the Register of Companies maintained by the National Court Register,” Nuclear.pl revealed. „In addition to the initial locations announced in April 2023: Stawy Monowskie, Włocławek, Tarnobrzeg, Ostrołęka, Nowa Huta, Stalowa Wola, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Warsaw, there were also new ones: Poznań, Bełchatów, Grudziadz, Łódź, Kozienice, Kujawy, Łaziska, Rybnik, Pomorze, Warta and Polaniec,” the portal confirmed.

„As we have previously indicated and as OSGE has indicated, these are preliminary sites for which pre-screening has been carried out and which require additional detailed environmental and location studies to demonstrate whether they are suitable sites. They will take at least 2 years. Probably, they will not begin before the adoption and entry into force of the latest amendment to the legislation on the atom, which is to allow submitting partial reports for the assessment of the President of the National Atomic Agency,” nuclear.pl explained.

It is worth noting that PKN Orlen and Synthos have already officially presented the first desired SMR locations in Poland: Włocławek, Stawy Monowskie, Ostrołęka, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Kraków-Nowa Huta, as well as the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone and Stalowa Wola. 

Nuclear.pl / Wojciech Jakóbik

Polenergia to receive PLN 20 million grant from NFOŚiGW for the construction of two hydrogen refueling stations

„Polenergia Elektrociepłownia Nowa Sarzyna has an agreement with the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management for PLN 20 million to finance a project to build 2 publicly available hydrogen refueling stations in Rzeszów and Nowa Sarzyna,” Polenergia said in a statement.

The company explained that the grant covers 43 percent of eligible project costs.

According to the agreement, the hydrogen refueling stations and associated infrastructure should be put into operation by June 1, 2025, with the possibility of making changes to the schedule.

Polish Press Agency / Jacek Perzyński