Russia halts pipeline oil supply to Poland, says PKN Orlen

WARSAW, Feb. 25 (Reuters) – Russia has cut oil supplies to Poland through the Druzhba pipeline, the CEO of the Polish refinery PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) said on Saturday, adding that the company would explore alternative sources to supply it to close the hole. .

The halt to supplies through the pipeline – which is exempt from EU sanctions imposed on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – came a day after Poland delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

“We are effectively securing supplies. Russia has stopped deliveries to Poland, for which we are prepared. Only 10% of crude oil comes from Russia and we will replace it with oil from other sources,” said Daniel Obajtek, CEO of PKN Orlen. wrote on Twitter.

The company said it could supply its refineries entirely by sea and that the halt to pipeline supplies would not affect the supply of gasoline and diesel to customers.

Since February, after a contract with Russia’s Rosneft expired, Orlen has been getting oil under a deal with Russian oil and natural gas company Tatneft.

Tatneft and Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The supply freeze came after US President Joe Biden this week visited Warsaw and Kiev in support of Ukraine, a year after the invasion.

On Friday, the European Union agreed on a tenth package of sanctions against Russia.

After the invasion of Ukraine and before the EU imposed an embargo on overseas supplies from Russia, Orlen stopped buying Russian oil and fuels by sea.

The company’s supply portfolio now includes oil from West Africa, the Mediterranean, the Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico, it said. It also has a supply contract with Saudi Aramco from 2022.

Sea supplies reach Poland via Naftoport, an oil terminal in Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. It can receive 36 million tons of oil annually, which exceeds the volumes that can be processed by Polish refineries and is partly used to supply oil to refineries in East Germany connected to Druzhba.

“Given the capacity of Naftoport and the fact that we also have other routes to import motor fuels, customers will not feel any impact, while Orlen has been preparing for this for months,” said Mateusz Berger, Secretary of State in charge of strategic energy infrastructure. told Reuters by phone.

Reporting by Marek Strzelecki Edited by Helen Popper and Frank Jack Daniel

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