Page 13 - EurOil Week 09 2021

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CAC builds biolfuel plant for transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz Bosnian oil refinery
said on February 26.
OMV in Schwechat, Austria 62 km on Bulgarian soil, is expected to be Modrica’s net loss narrows
The gas link, which has a length of some
Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz (CAC) has completed in May 2023, Vladimir Malinov 63% in 2020
been assigned by OMV AG with overall said in a press release issued by the energy
responsibility for the construction of a biofuel ministry. Bosnian oil refinery Modrica said its net loss
plant. With this project CAC is realising one Bulgaria has secured funding of 27mn narrowed to 4.2mn marka ($2.6mn) in 2020,
of the first large-scale plants in Europe to use euro ($32.7mn) under the EU’s Connecting from 11.2mnmarka a year earlier.
innovative co-processing to produce carbon- Europe Facility and 2.7mn euro from Operating income dropped 17% on
neutral fuels. For this purpose, biogenic operational programme Innovation and the year to 10.7mn marka in 2020, while
input materials are processed together in Competitiveness 2014-2020 for the project. operating costs plummeted 39% to
combination with fossil, oil-based raw The country’s tender for building the gas 14.2mn marka, Modrica said in a financial
material in a hydrogenation facility at the link attracted offers from eleven candidates statement filed with the Banja Luka Stock
refinery. The Vienna-based international oil, with the winner still to be selected. Exchange (BLSE) last week.
gas and chemicals company is investing about Serbia is expected to launch the tender Rafinerija Ulja Modrica produces motor
€200 million in the conversion at the site in for its section of the gas interconnector next and industrial oils, lubricants and paraffin.
Schwechat, Austria. This is in line with the week, according to the statement. The length Russian state-owned oil firm
E.U. requirement for biofuels to adhere to of the pipeline in Serbia is some 108 km. Zarubezhneft, via its subsidiary
strict ecological and social criteria throughout Neftegazinkor, owns 75.65% of Modrica.
the value chain. The remainder is held by smaller
With this process, the hydrogenated Poland expects Lithuania shareholders.capacity of around 900,000
vegetable oil should lead to an annual tonnes per year.
reduction in OMV’s carbon footprint of up to support Mazeikiu oil
to 360,000 metric tons of fossil CO2. This is
equivalent to the annual emissions of around refinery Lithuania looks forward to
200,000 cars driving an average of 12,000
km/yr. The product meets the highest quality Polish fuel giant PKN Orlen has said it is supplying LNG to Poland in
standards and can be freely used in any type hopeful that the Lithuanian government will
of vehicle. The technology applied is not make its position clear on the development of 2022
limited to vegetable oil — waste products the Mazeikiu oil refinery within a month.
(such as used cooking oil) and advanced In September, PKN Orlen said that Lithuania’s energy company Ignitis Group
feedstocks are also possible and will be used it expected the Lithuanian government announced on March 2 it will commence
based on availability. OMV expects demand to support its planned investment in the supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG)
for its hydrogenated biofuels to increase ten- refinery, which will help make it more to neighbouring Poland next year after a
fold by 2030. resilient to macroeconomic conditions, and new pipeline between the two countries is
“With this project we are joining OMV to increase its manufacturing capacity of completed.
in taking a further step towards sustainable high-margin products, including petrols and The gas connection, GIPL, between
mobility,” declared Jörg Engelmann, jet fuel. the two countries is due by December
managing director of CAC, which is “PKN Orlen expects the Lithuanian 2021 and will also give Lithuania, Finland,
currently launching its technology for government to present its position regarding Estonia and Latvia access to pipeline gas
manufacturing synthetic gasoline on an the development of the Mazeikiu oil refinery from continental Europe.
industrial scale onto the market. “Only with within a month,” Daniel Obajtek told a Polish The region currently imports pipeline
technological openness we can provide public television programme on Thursday, gas from Russia and LNG via an import
rapid and sustainable protection for our following talks with the Lithuanian prime terminal at Lithuania’s Klaipeda port.
environment.” minister. Lithuania’s energy minister has
With overall responsibility for all phases The company bought 53.7% of the shares previously said that the new pipeline would
of the project, CAC is undertaking detail in the refinery’s owner, Mazeikiu Nafta, from also be used to supply LNG from Klaipeda
engineering, including project management Jukos for $1.49bn in 2006, and later bought to a planned gas-fired power station to be
and project controlling, procurement a further 30.66% through a contract with built in northeast Poland.
services and construction site management. the Lithuanian government for more than The Klaipeda terminal imported 21.9
This includes the supply of equipment and $852mn. TWh of LNG in 2020, Ignitis Group said
bulk materials (piping, instrumentation, After buying the Lithuanian government’s in its annual report, or half of its annual
electrotechnical material) as well as remaining 10% stake six years ago, and capacity of 39 TWh.
responsibility for construction and assembly buying up the stakes of smaller investors, Poland’s LNG import terminal in
work.. PKN Orlen now owns 100% of the Swinoujscie imported 39.9 TWh, Ignitis
Lithuanian refinery, which was rebranded as Group said. In 2020, Poland signed deals
Orlen Lietuva in 2009. to expand the terminal’s capacity by 66%
Bulgaria expects to start government backed Orlen, the decision to by 2023, as the country prepares to cease
Obajtek added that if the Lithuanian
imports of Russian pipeline gas in 2022.
construction of gas link with invest in the facility could be taken in late of the Finnish gas market last year, after
Russia’s Gazprom lost a third of its share
May or early June.
Serbia in May was to reduce the refinery’s emissions a new pipeline made it possible to import
He also said a key goal for Orlen
LNG via the Baltic states.
Bulgaria expects to start the construction through modernisation and optimising its Finland imported a total 5.8 TWh of gas
of its natural gas interconnection with production. from the Baltic States in 2020, including
Serbia in May, the CEO of state-owned gas 3.05 TWh from Ignitis Group, the group

Week 09 04•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13