Page 17 - EurOil Week 23 2022

EurOil NEWS IN BRIEF EurOil

Croatia mulls increasing storage the construction of a new underground gas Lithuania to probe Viada and
storage facility, which will be owned by Serbia,
capacity of Janaf oil pipeline is also planned. Baltic Petroleum links to Russia
Mihajlovic underlined that unfortunately
The Croatian authorities are taking steps to Serbia is importing electricity on a daily Lithuania‘s governmental commission,
increase the storage capacity of the Janaf oil basis to cover between 12% and 15% of the which examines the transactions of strategic
pipeline to guarantee energy security during total consumption and imports will be also companies, is investigating the Russian links
the Russian war in Ukraine, N1 reported on needed in the future period, due to the lack of of Viada and Baltic Petroleum petrol chains,
June 9. investment in the coal sector. 15min.lt news website reported on June 8.
The Primorje-Gorski Kotar County According to Neringa Andrijauskiene,
councillors amended the county’s physical head of the Central Purchasing Organisation
plan, increasing the Janaf oil pipeline’s storage Poland’s PKN Orlen moots (CPO), the screening of suppliers started in
capacity in the town of Omisalj on the April, in line with the amendments to the
northern Adriatic island of Krk. They also petchem projects with Aramco Public Procurement Law, which say that
granted the Kraljevica shipyard the status of a suppliers and sub-suppliers can be rejected
state shipyard. Polish refiner PKN Orlen anticipates the if their managers are permanent residents or
The new storage will cover an area of imminent announcement of petrochemical citizens of “hostile countries”, which includes
640,000 square metres and will increase the projects in collaboration with Saudi Aramco Russia and Belarus.
Omisalj terminal’s capacity to 2.04mn cubic following last week’s completion of its “The most complicated and time-consuming
metres, while new storage for refined products merger with compatriot Grupa Lotos. part of the process is the verification of fuel
will total 220,000 cubic metres of capacity. The projects will be worth “several billion suppliers that are in CPO’s electronic catalogue,”
Two new tanker berths will also be built to US dollars” and will be executed with Saudi Andrijauskiene said, referring to the suppliers of
increase the country’s oil storage. Aramco as well as its subsidiary Saudi Basic Viada and Baltic Petroleum.
In May, Croatia said it could increase Industries Corp. (SABIC), PKN Orlen The Viada petrol station chain is owned
the transportation capacity of Janaf by 30% CEO Daniel Obajtek told Polish state news by Ivan Paleichik’s family business Vaizga.
to supply Hungary with oil. Janaf currently agency PAP on June 8. Baltic Petroleum is managed by Paleichik’s son
transports 11.4mn tonnes of crude oil PKN Orlen and Saudi Aramco were Andrius. Until 2016, Paleichik was head of
annually. brought together by the Polish company’s Lukoil Baltija, a chain of petrol stations owned
plans to take over peer Lotos. by the Russian oil giant Lukoil. In spring 2016,
In January, Aramco agreed a deal Lukoil Baltija was taken over by Austria’s Amic
Serbia-Bulgaria gas link to with Grupa Lotos that included a 30% Energy Management. The latter took over the
management of around 230 petrol stations in
stake in the 210,000 barrel per day (bpd)
be completed in 2023 Lotos Asfalt refinery in Gdansk at a cost Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The management
of $255mn as well as 100% of wholesale
of these petrol stations in Lithuania and Latvia
Serbian Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic business Lotos SPV 1 for $250mn, and was taken over by Luktarna and Viada Baltija,
said that with the construction of a gas 50% in the Lotos-Air BP Polska jet fuel which are related to Paleichik.
interconnector with Bulgaria, that should marketing joint venture with BP for an
be ready next year, Serbia will get the undisclosed fee.
opportunity to receive gas from suppliers PKN also signed a deal for 200,000- KMG says it can bring oil to
other than Russia, the government said in the 337,000 bpd of crude from Aramco,
statement. meaning that Saudi crude could account Romania via Russia
The construction of the gas interconnector for up to 45% of PKN’s total feedstock, with
between Serbia and Bulgaria started in flows to be directed to refineries including Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas (KMG), which
February this year. It will help diversify those at Kralupy and Litvinov in the Czech operates Romania’s largest refinery Rompetrol,
gas supplies to Serbia, which is currently Republic, Mazeikiai in Lithuania and Plock said that it has made every effort to ensure
dependent on imports of Russian gas. and Gdansk in Poland. stable and safe exports of Kazakh oil and has
Mihajlovic told Euronews Serbia on June 8 The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reached an agreement on unlimited access to
that with the Nis-Dimitrovgrad gas pipeline, expects total Polish petroleum product the oil that transits the Russian Federation, on
Serbia will be able to cover approximately demand to rise by around 4% this year to the European market. The EU approved on
40% of its consumption from other suppliers, reach 633,000 bpd, with transportation June 3 the sixth package of sanctions against
according to the government statement. accounting for nearly two thirds of this. Russia, which provides for a phased ban on
Azerbaijan is one of the potential The sale of the stake in the refinery crude oil and petroleum products of Russian
alternative sources of gas, said Mihajlovic, allowed the planned merger between the origin. The implementation of this measure
adding that the goal is to connect with Polish companies to proceed, in compliance will take six months for crude oil and up to
Croatia, which is expanding the storage with judgement from the European eight months for petroleum products.
capacity on Krk island, but also with Romania, Commission. “These restrictions do not apply to the
which could make Serbia a transit country Meanwhile, in order to satisfy European purchase of crude oil from third countries
through a regional gas network. anti-trust legislation, Hungary’s MOL and delivered by sea if such crude oil is loaded
Mihajlovic recalled that Serbia has an agreed to buy 417 Lotos fuel stations for into or transits the Russian Federation. Thus,
agreement with Russia’s Gazprom on the $610mn and signed a long-term fuel supply KMG, as well as other crude oil companies
purchase of 2bn cubic metres of gas per year. deal with PKN for its new Polish retail in Kazakhstan, carry out activities to inform
“We will lease additional capacities in the network. In return, MOL will sell 185 fuel its customers about the lack of restrictions
warehouse in Hungary and no matter how stations in Hungary and Slovakia to PKN on operations with Kazakh crude oil, which
complicated the winter is, we will have enough for $259mn. is transported on the territory of the Russian
gas for citizens and companies,” she said. Federation,” a company statement reads.
The deputy prime minister added that

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