PGNiG Upstream Norway AS (PUN), a company of the ORLEN Group, has signed an agreement with Wintershall Dea Norge AS for the swap of interests in upstream assets in Norway. PUN will acquire an interest in the Idun Nord field and expand its holdings in the Adriana and Sabina discoveries. In exchange, it will transfer a minor part of its interest in the Ærfugl Nord field to Wintershall Dea. The transaction will increase PUN's recoverable reserves of natural gas of by more than 0.4 billion cubic meters. The asset swap is anticipated to optimise the company’s portfolio of licence interests in the Skarv area, translating into improved efficiency and lower overall cost of managing these assets.

As early as next year, almost two-thirds of the gas produced by ORLEN Group on the Norwegian Continental Shelf will come from facilities powered by renewable energy produced onshore and delivered with submarine power cables. Such a solution has already been applied to the platforms at the Gina Krog, Ormen Lange, and Duva fields and will result in the abatement of over 88,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2024. There are also plans to electrify the Fenris and Yggdrasil fields, which are currently under development.

The testing phase for the 1MW prototype cogeneration set featuring the Multifuel system, which enables electricity and heat generation using hydrogen, natural gas or their mixtures, has been successfully completed. The prototype stands out on a global scale, employing a proprietary solution developed by ORLEN. The Multifuel system can be installed in generating units that are already in operation, allowing them to be gradually converted to run on hydrogen. Multifuel is set to expedite the adoption of alternative fuels in the power industry, contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the sector. ORLEN has filed a patent application for its invention.

‘Saint Barbara’ and ‘Ignacy Łukasiewicz’ are the new additions soon to join the ORLEN Group’s fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels. The ship naming ceremony took place at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries shipyard in Mokpo, South Korea. Slated to commence sea service by the end of this year, the new vessels are set to bolster the ORLEN Group’s capacity for natural gas procurement and thus enhance Poland’s energy security.

ORLEN will be able to receive up to 58 shipments of liquefied natural gas per year at the Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) terminal to be built in the Gulf of Gdansk. The company has finalized an agreement with GAZ-SYSTEM to reserve a regasification capacity of 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year at the Gdansk terminal. This is another step in the process of strengthening the energy independence of the country and the region.

The second vessel of the fleet of gas carriers being built for the ORLEN Group has just arrived at the port in Świnoujście with a cargo of liquefied natural gas. The vessel, named “Grażyna Gęsicka”, has delivered some 65,000 tonnes of LNG loaded at the Freeport terminal in the United States. The delivery was made based on a spot market transaction.

On June 17^th, the “Grażyna Gęsicka” LNG carrier with an LNG cargo set off on its first voyage to Poland. The tanker will arrive at the President Lech Kaczyński Terminal in about two weeks.

In 2022, LNG and pipeline deliveries from new suppliers in Norway and Lithuania accounted for more than 50% of all gas imported by the ORLEN Group’s PGNiG, with close to a quarter of those imports originating in the United States. This diversification of natural gas supplies to Poland was made possible by the expansion of the supplier base and the effective management of the increased offtake capacity at the President Lech Kaczyński LNG terminal in Świnoujście and new cross-border connections, including the Baltic Pipe running between Poland and Norway, where the ORLEN Group owns gas assets. These developments were accelerated by the complete suspension of Russian gas imports in April 2022.

As many as 58 LNG cargoes were received by the ORLEN Group at the President Lech Kaczyński Terminal in 2022, hitting a new record since the terminal started its commercial operation. The volume of LNG deliveries received in Świnoujście totalled 4.4 million tonnes, 57% more than last year. The increased LNG imports helped to ensure energy security for gas customers in Poland despite the challenging gas market landscape in Europe.