October 2, 2015 [Reuters] - Poland's PKN Orlen has welcomed a plan to link its Lithuania refinery to a Baltic sea oil terminal.
Energy Minister Rokas Masiulis said last week that Lithuania was willing to help finance construction of the pipeline to the Klaipedos Nafta terminal.
The Mazeikiai refinery had been supplied with Russian oil via a pipeline through Belarus, but the pipeline ceased to operate after PKN took over in 2006, beating potential bidders from Russia.
Mazeikiai has struggled to break even in recent years, partly due to high transport costs. It relies on rail for crude deliveries and to ship refined products to the terminal on the Baltic Sea, more than 100 km (62 miles) away.
“We welcome the minister’s declarations,” PKN Orlen said in a statement sent to Reuters. “PKN Orlen is ready for dialogue with the Lithuanian authorities.”
“Construction of the pipeline, which could effectively lower the fees for transporting ready products to the terminal in Klaipeda, is one of the possible options,” PKN said.
Last year, PKN considered temporarily closing the refinery after a 5-billion-zloty ($1.3 billion) impairment at the site pushed the company to a record loss in the second quarter.
