Page 12 - EurOil Week 08 2022

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Strike action could lead to shutdowns

at Fawley refinery

UK THE UK’s largest oil refinery in Fawley, owned “The employers need to take back this
by ExxonMobil, could face closure as Unite insulting pay offer, which is actually a cut, and
union members prepare to vote on strike action think again,” United General Secretary Sha-
over pay. ron Graham said in a statement. “Our mem-
A ballot of 100 Unite members at the site bers have mounting bills to pay like everyone
in south England began on February 21, the else, and with runaway inflation there is no
union said, after it rejected an “insulting” offer way we will accept a derisory 2.5% for this
of a 2.5% increase in pay over the next two years. workforce:
Unite said the real cost of living increase over Fawley is one of the UK’s six main oil refin-
that time is projected to be 7.8%, and it is push- eries, which together supply most of its filling
ing for a one-year deal that increases pay in line stations and airports. United warned that strike
with inflation. action “could lead to shut downs across the
The 100 union members represent a third of plant,” given that some of its members serve
the workforce at the Fawley refinery in South- in key safety roles. The services they provide
ampton, employed by contractors Trant Engi- include the removal of sewage and hydrocar-
neering, Veolia Services and Altrad Services. bons, and emergency works. ™

NEWS IN BRIEF

Turkey’s natural gas Poland praises suspension of pro-Western stance.
“We have long appealed to our German
imports decline 1% y/y in Nord Stream 2 but wants to partners to stop this harmful and dangerous
project,” Morawiecki also said.
December go tougher on Russia Russian energy supplies, however. Nearly
Poland is not free from dependency on
Turkey’s natural gas imports dropped 1.3% Germany’s suspending the certification 90% of oil demand and some 60% of gas
y/y in December, state-run news service process of Nord Stream 2 is good news, but demand in Poland is covered by Russian
Anadolu Agency has reported, citing data Poland anticipates going much further in imports. There are plans to end the gas
from energy market regulator EPDK. punishing Russia for invading Ukraine’s dependency by the end of 2022, once the
Natural gas imports declined to 6.18bn eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Baltic Pipe, a gas link from Norway, becomes
cubic metres (bcm) from 6.26 bcm in the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki operational.
same month of 2020. said on February 22. Poland has also let the world’s biggest oil
The country in December imported Poland and other eastern member states company, Saudi Aramco, onto the market
3.66 bcm of natural gas via pipelines, while of the EU – which emerged from Moscow’s by selling it assets of Lotos Group in January.
2.51mn cubic metres (mcm) was purchased domination at the turn of the 1980s and The transaction could help Poland turn to
as liquefied natural gas (LNG). 1990s – have long called on Germany and the Saudis for oil at the expense of Russia.
Imports through pipelines fell by 24.6% the EU to recognise Nord Stream 2 as a Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Polish
y/y but LNG purchases increased by 81% y/y. project that is predominantly geopolitical, government, Piotr Muller, told the state
Gas imports from Russia decreased by not economic, in nature. newswire PAP that “Polish diplomacy is
30% y/y to 2.1 bcm, but imports from the US “From the very beginning of the Nord working to make sure that sanctions against
and Iran increased by 92.6% and 4.5% to 1.05 Stream 2 project, Poland was categorically Russia go as far as possible.”
mcm and 855 mcm, respectively. against placing Germany’s gas interests Muller’s words suggest that Poland is not
The country’s total gas consumption was over the security of the whole of Europe,” happy with the sanctions package announced
down by 2.1% y/y to approximately 6.21 bcm Morawiecki said in a Facebook post. by the EU, targeting “banks that are financing
with household consumption rising by 2.7% “Today, all the inhabitants of the EU feel Russian military and other operations in
to 2.25 bcm. Power plants’ natural gas usage the effects of the continent’s dependence on those territories” and “the ability of the
decreased by 8% y/y to 1.43 bcm. Russian energy supplies,” the PM added. Russian state and government to access
The December data also showed that the For years, Poland has said that Nord the EU’s capital and financial markets and
natural gas volume in storage decreased by Stream 2 will serve Moscow to circumvent services, to limit the financing of escalatory
32.9% y/y to 1.91 bcm. Ukraine when supplying Germany and and aggressive policies.”
Western Europe. That would facilitate
applying economic and, by extension,
political pressure on Kyiv in retaliation for its

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 23•February•2022