Poland NEWS

Poland claims it will not need to draw on its reserves and that its storage is 76 per cent full

Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) has announced that Equinor and Polener-gia’s Baltyk II and Baltyk III projects were awarded contracts for difference (CfD) under the first phase of Poland’s offshore wind development scheme. The projects, with a com-bined potential capacity of 1440 MW, are among the first to secure offshore wind awards in Poland.

Iberdrola has increased its renewable energy footprint in Poland, one of the company’s new growth markets. The group has reached an agreement with CEE Equity Partner to acquire three new onshore wind farms with a total capacity of 163 MW. The production from the facilities is largely already covered by 10-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Polish President Andrzej Duda has informed that the construction of Baltic, a new pipeline, will commence soon. This major gas pipeline from Norway will mark the independence of Poland from Russian gas. Its capacity is said to be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Italian oilfield services major, Saipem who will take care of pipeline's construction said that the contract is worth $307 million.

Poland's, PGNiG has decided not to renew the major contract with Russia's Gazprom after it ends in 2022. The company has already notified Gazprom about its "intent to terminate" the contract. This Yamal contract was started in 1996. Currently, two-third of the gas consumed in the nation is delivered by Russia under Yamal. Poland has been long wanting to seize its dependency on Russian gas.

Poland has won a European Union court ruling That would reduce Russia's control on Opal pipeline in Germany. Poland challenged the European Commission's 2016 decision which allowed Gazprom to use major capacity on the Opal pipeline. “The ruling keeps Poland’s and Ukraine’s energy security at a high level”, said the Polish Energy Minister. The pipeline has the capacity to transport 36 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The largest pipeline company in the world, Transneft reportedly informed about discovering more contamination at a section of the Druzhba pipeline from Belarus to Poland. Transneft said that pumping was halted on Wednesday evening, but later resumed on Thursday. In April, all the west-bound flows through the pipeline were ceased due to extreme levels of organic chloride in the crude, distressing refiners in numerous European countries.

A senior executive of Transneft has informed about its affiliation with Belarus. The Russian pipeline monopoly with the help of Belarus will clean the contaminated Russian oil in the country. The Russian oil shipments are transported through Belarus to Poland and beyond. Further, he also said that if the plan works out successfully, Poland will receive clean oil on June 9-10.

Saudi Aramco has informed that its subsidiary, Aramco Trading has signed an agreement with Poland's leading refiner, PKN Orlen. Under the scope of this agreement, Aramco will supply Arabian crude oil to Poland's PKN in exchange of which it will receive a similar volume of high sulfur fuel oil from the refiner. Aramco said that the company wants to position a set volume of crude in different geographies.

Gaz-System, gas grid operator of Poland and its Danish counterpart have marked their approval on the Baltic Pipe gas link. This Polish project is intended to reduce its reliance on Russian gas. Baltic Pipe, a 900 kilometres pipeline will link Poland with Norway’s deposits past Baltic Sea and Denmark. Poland’s deal with Russia’s Gazprom will end in 2022 and it is expected that the project will be ready by that time.

Polish state-owned, PKN Orlen’s CEO has said that the firm is expecting its first-ever Nigerian oil shipment next month. A batch of 130,000 tonnes of Nigerian oil is scheduled to arrive in Poland, in November. Poland’s biggest refiner, PKN Orlen imports most of the crude oil from Russia through pipelines. The firm signed a long-term agreement with Saudi Aramco in 2016, in its bid to reduce reliance on Russian supplies.

The merger of PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos, two largest refineries of Poland, is a matter of concern for BP. According to the London’s oil major, this merger can halt the market competition in the east European country. If the sources were to be believed, BP can choose from its options and can file a complaint with European or Polish authorities regarding this matter.

CEO of Poland’s gas company, PGNiG, informed that the company will spend over $2 billion on distribution network by 2022. The decision of shareholders to invest in dividends has influenced this plan of expansion, he said. The company has decided to invest half of the profits of 2017 on dividends. PGNiG in the recent quarter reported a 41% hike in its net profit compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

The Polish government has claimed that the 2.1 billion euros Baltic Sea gas pipeline to Norway is well on time and there appears no threat to the 2022 deadline as of now. The Baltic Sea Gas pipeline of 10 billion cubic meters/year capacity will connect Poland to Norwegian gas deposits via Denmark. The pipeline is being seen as a move to reduce Poland’s reliance on Russia for gas.