Orlen inks deal to secure LNG supplies to Poland, Baltics

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Poland’s strategic energy giant PKN Orlen has signed a five-year exclusive deal with Lithuanian energy terminal operator KN Energies to up the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to north-east Poland and the Baltic countries.

Under the deal, effective until the end of March 2030, Orlen will have sole access to a reloading wharf in Klaipeda, coastal Lithuania, from which it has already received almost 60,000 tonnes of LNG under an earlier contract. Road tankers will primarily transport LNG to customers in north-east Poland.

The route will serve business clients and LNG regasification stations in areas not on the national grid, and removes any requirement to solely rely on shipments from the primary Polish LNG terminal on the Baltic coast in Swinoujscie, north-west Poland.

CEOs proclaim ‘milestone’ deal

Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fafara said the reloading station in Klaipeda “plays a vital role in optimizing logistics costs for our LNG operations”, adding that “beyond Poland, LNG is also supplied to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, where we’re seeing growing interest in cooperation with Orlen.”

“The extension of our partnership with KN Energies is a significant milestone in reinforcing our position in the Baltic region’s LNG market,” Fafara added.

While the Swinoujscie 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, Fafara, adding that the company is “witnessing growing interest in cooperation with Orlen” in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

KN Energies CEO Darius Silenskis 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.

“Although it is a small-scale LNG terminal, it has huge potential and significance for the entire LNG value chain. We appreciate the constructive cooperation with our partners in Poland,” Silenskis added.

Founded in 1994 as Klaipedos Nafta, Lithuania’s KN Energies operates the Klaipeda oil and LNG terminals, as well as the oil terminal in Subacius, north Lithuania, and the Acu LNG terminal on the Brasilian coast.