Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 15 2022

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

easily find other buyers. tonnes, 97.3% of which was imported oil. Poland
The UK has also said it will phase out the also imported oil from Saudi Arabia (15% of
import of Russian oil by the end of the year. overall imports), Kazakhstan (11%), Nigeria
The UK currently is also not very dependent (6%) and Norway (2%).
on Russian hydrocarbons, importing a mere On March 30, Morawiecki paid a visit to
8% of its fuel needs. The vast majority of its fuel the storage facility of Poland’s PKN Orlen, the
comes from imports of liquefied natural gas state-controlled oil giant, to say that his govern-
(LNG) from countries such as Qatar and the US. ment’s plan to end imports of Russian energy
Among European countries the UK is one of the commodities was “the most radical in Europe”.
least dependent on Russian oil; nevertheless, On oil, Poland says that it will use deliveries
London has given itself the whole of the rest of via the oil terminal in Gdansk, which can handle
this year to phase out these imports. 36mn tonnes of crude oil annually, more than
Of the EU members, Poland has acted fastest the 26mn tonnes Poland has consumed in recent
to ban Russian oil imports. Poland’s Prime Min- years.
ister Mateusz Morawiecki said on March 30 that PKN Orlen’s contract with Rosneft, which
Poland will stop buying Russian oil completely secures Poland 300,000 tonnes of oil per month,
by the end of 2022. Yet critics say that the gov- expires in December. Another contract, with
ernment is still not prepared to put its money Tatneft, provides for deliveries of up to 200,000
where its mouth is, and has yet to take any deci- tonnes per month and expires only in December
sive action. 2024.
Poland is one of the EU’s heaviest users of
Russian oil. Pumped via the Druzhba pipeline, Breaking off with Russia
these supplies made up around 65%-70% of all Many countries have been talking about wean-
oil imports into Poland in 2020, coming in at ing themselves off Russian oil imports, but West-
nearly 17mn tonnes. That is an increase of 48% ern Europe is Russia’s biggest customer for oil
versus the year 2000. and oil products.
Overall, Russian oil covered 64% of Poland’s Russia exported $74.4bn of crude in 2020,
demand in 2020, which came in at 26.1mn but a third of that went to China with the EU

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