Business news

7 May 2020

Belneftekhim working on importing oil to Belarus via Polish Gdansk

An archive photo

MINSK, 7 May (BelTA) – Belneftekhim is working on importing oil via the Polish city of Gdansk, BelTA learned from Aleksandr Tishchenko, Press Secretary of the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim.

The spokesman said: “The northern direction and the southern one are now operational. The western line [shipments via Gdansk] is in the final stage of preparations. Everything that needs more work has already been put on a precise schedule, including the matter of reverse deliveries from Poland and the construction of the Gomel-Gorki trunk line.”

According to the press secretary, the Belarusian oil industry survived a crash test in Q1 2020. The pool of partners that supply oil to Belarus was substantially renewed. Suppliers from Azerbaijan, Norway, and Saudi Arabia were added to Russian companies. Work with U.S. companies continues. Due to objective reasons the number of offers and opportunities on the market of energy resources is more than sufficient. Besides, in addition to clearly recognizing the need to diversify oil import the Belarusian oil industry determined its directions and logistics. The market is now more segmented from the point of view of deliveries.

Aleksandr Tishchenko noted that Belarusian oil refineries had tested various options for processing new kinds of raw materials in practice. “The results are satisfactory. We intend to seriously prepare for the new oil market that will emerge after the crisis and the pandemic,” he added.

Earlier BelTA quoted First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Dmitry Krutoi as saying that alternative oil deliveries will always be on the Belarusian oil agenda. “We will continue working with all the countries we’ve already bought oil from (Azerbaijan, Norway) and with our new partners such as Saudi Arabia and the USA. No doubt, we will try to secure the most profitable terms of these deliveries,” Dmitry Krutoi said.

Asked about deliveries of American oil, Dmitry Krutoi confirmed this oil can be delivered to Belarus via Poland. He said he believes that the negotiations will become more active once the quarantine in Poland is over.

BelTA reported earlier that this year Belarus has bought Norwegian and Azerbaijani oil for Belarusian oil refineries with transshipment in the ports of Klaipeda and Odessa respectively. The first shipment of oil bought from the Saudi Arabian national oil company Saudi Aramco – 80,000 tonnes – is supposed to reach the Klaipeda port on 11 May.