Polish energy company ORLEN announced on Tuesday (9 April) a 30 per cent increase in the amount of natural gas transmitted to Poland from its own production in Norway, translating to an additional billion cubic metres of gas over the course of a year.
Gas from Norwegian fields operated by ORLEN’s subsidiary PGNiG Upstream Norway now makes up about half of ORLEN’s reserved capacity in the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, ORLEN said in a press release.
The increase in the amount of independently produced gas transmitted to Poland is the result of the acquisition of KUFPEC Norway and the redirection of all its gas production to Poland since 1 April, ORLEN said.
ORLEN to increase gas output in Norway following key acquisition
“The Norwegian Continental Shelf is a key market for us in terms of acquiring gas necessary for the proper functioning and development of the domestic economy, as well as meeting the needs of our customers. We are effectively striving for the largest possible portion of the raw material transmitted to Poland from Norway to come from our own production, as evidenced by, among other things, the acquisition of KUFPEC Norway, which has allowed us to increase the amount of gas extracted by the concern on the Norwegian Continental Shelf by over a billion cubic metres annually,” said Witold Literacki, the now former acting President of the ORLEN management board.
“Since 1 April of this year, all additional gas has been directed to the country, strengthening the energy security of consumers and simultaneously enabling the Group to further optimise the costs of acquiring raw materials,” Mr Literacki added.
Following the KUFPEC Norway acquisition, PGNiG Upstream Norway has taken control of shares in 5 producing deposits: Gina Krog, Sleipner Vest, Sleipner Ost, Gungne, and Utgard. PUN was already a shareholder in all of these deposits, which “translated into additional operational and financial synergies,” ORLEN said.
In terms of gas production, the acquisition of KUFPEC Norway enabled ORLEN to increase the amount of natural gas extracted in Norway by 1 billion cubic metres to 4 billion cubic metres annually.
The extracted gas is transported to Poland via the Baltic Pipe pipeline, in which the ORLEN Group has reserved capacity allowing the transmission of slightly over 8 billion cubic metres of gas annually. The redirection of additional volumes obtained through the acquisition of KUFPEC Norway to the Baltic Pipe means that, on average, the production of PGNiG Upstream Norway can account for about half of the gas imported by ORLEN from Norway using the maximum reserved capacity of the Baltic Pipe.