Poland's Orlen ready to halt imports of Russian oil

PKN Orlen, Poland’s state-owned fuel company, will quit using Russian oil should further sanctions on its import be imposed, the company’s CEO, Daniel Obajtek, said on Wednesday.

The Polish government has been at the forefront of an international campaign to introduce a total embargo on Russian carbon fuels owing to Russia's war on Ukraine.

"PKN Orlen is prepared to withdraw completely from Russian oil if its imports are further sanctioned," Obajtek said. He added that 90 percent of Orlen's oil now came from other sources than Russia, "which made withdrawing from Russian imports easier."

Orlen's oil supply contract with Russia, which foresaw annual supplies to the tune of 3.6 million tonnes, expired in January.

On December 5, 2022, the EU issued a ban on imports of Russian oil to the bloc in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

Most of Poland's oil now comes from the North Sea, West Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Persian and Mexican Gulfs.

Orlen's main oil import partner now is Saudi Aramco, with whom the company has sealed a supply contract to cover 45 percent of its overall oil needs.

New EU sanctions on Russian fuels are to come into force on February 5.