Polish energy company Orlen has solidified its LNG supply logistics across central and eastern Europe through an exclusive five-year agreement with Lithuania's KN Energies.
This partnership grants ORLEN sole access to a small-scale LNG reloading wharf station in Klaipėda, enhancing gas supply to north-eastern Poland and the Baltic region.
Since the commencement of a previous contract, ORLEN has received nearly 60,000t of LNG via the Klaipėda terminal.
This agreement, effective until March 2030, ensures that LNG received at the Lithuanian station will be transported by road tankers to customers, primarily in north-eastern Poland.
ORLEN said this transport route offers greater efficiency compared with shipments from the Świnoujście terminal, Poland's main LNG import hub.
The Klaipėda reloading terminal is equipped with five LNG tanks, each with a total capacity of 5,000m³, and features infrastructure for managing and reloading LNG cargoes.
In addition to small-scale LNG operations, ORLEN imports large volumes of LNG through KN Energies' floating terminal in Klaipėda.
With regasification capacity reserved until 2032, ORLEN can import more than 500 million cubic metres of natural gas annually.
To date, the company has received ten cargoes, totalling approximately 656,000t, which, after regasification, have been distributed to customers in the Baltic states and Poland via the Gas Interconnection Poland–Lithuania pipeline, operational since May 2022.
ORLEN CEO and president of the management board Ireneusz Fąfara said: “The extension of our partnership with KN Energies is a significant milestone in reinforcing our position in the Baltic region’s LNG market.
“While the Świnoujście terminal remains a crucial hub for our LNG operations, the Klaipėda reloading station plays a vital complementary role, allowing us to optimise the cost of logistics. Beyond serving the Polish market, the LNG sourced there is also supplied to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where we are witnessing growing interest in cooperation with ORLEN.”
KN Energies CEO Darius Šilenskis said: “We believe that this agreement will flourish further cooperation with Orlen and will provide favourable conditions for even greater LNG loading volumes through the reloading station to LNG semitrailers, and will create added value for our client and the entire Polish and Baltic region.”
Earlier this week, ORLEN Group commenced production from the Tyrving field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
With the Tyrving start-up, ORLEN's producing assets in Norway have increased to 20 fields.
The field's gross recoverable reserves are estimated at 25 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), supporting approximately 15 years of production.
At its peak, the field is expected to produce 20,000boe per day.
