Poland's Orlen secures extra oil deliveries amid Middle East turmoil
Polish energy giant Orlen says it has secured 16 additional crude oil deliveries in recent days for its refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania amid global market turbulence fuelled by the Middle East conflict.
The Orlen Lietuva refinery in Mažeikiai, northwestern Lithuania.Photo: PAP/Adam Guz
The supplies will come from Britain, Norway, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the Americas.
Orlen said its day-to-day crude oil deliveries were proceeding without disruption and fully covered the needs of its refineries.
Part of the supply is covered by a contract the company signed with Norway's Equinor in August.
The additional purchases are part of Orlen's strategy of maintaining a diversified supplier portfolio amid instability in commodity markets, the company said.
The Reuters news agency reported that Orlen had been seeking North Sea and other crude oil shipments to replace disrupted supplies from Saudi Arabia amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, normally supplies about 40 percent of the crude processed by Orlen's refineries, according to Reuters.
Poland's State Assets Minister Wojciech Balczun told public broadcaster Polish Radio on Wednesday that the government was doing "everything possible" to maintain stable oil supplies, describing the situation as "extremely serious."