“Orlen signed sales contract shares in the company Gas Storage Poland. Thus it was fulfilled condition for the merger of Orlen and PGNiG indicated by President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection” – the company announced on Friday. At the same time, it noted that “the concluded agreement concerns the sale only storage system operatorwhile the warehouses themselves remain the property of the Orlen Group.
Gas storage facilities in the hands of the State Treasury
As Orlen announced in a press release, the purchaser of shares in Gas Storage Poland is the transmission system operator owned by the State Treasury, the company Gaz-System. “Their takeover still requires the consent of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for the concentration: – emphasized the company. He also assessed that “the transaction is another important step towards strengthening Poland's energy security“.
Orlen recalled that the agreement concluded with Gaz-System was preceded in February by the consent of the company's shareholders to sell 100 percent. shares in Gas Storage Poland, which is the system operator natural gas storage – the operator makes the capacities and capacities of storage installations available to all participants of the gas storage services market.
Gas storage management
As explained in the announcement, Orlen concluded an agreement with Gas Storage Poland under which the company manages the storage capacity underground gas storage facilities belonging to the concern, which are located in Kosakowo, Mogilno, Wierzchowice, Brzeźnica, Swarzów, Husów and Strachocin, and their total capacity is currently over 3.3 billion cubic meters.
At the same time, Orlen mentioned that it is currently expanding the underground gas storage facility in Wierzchowice, the largest of its type in Poland for this raw material. The company announced that ultimately the storage capacity there will increase by 800 million cubic meters, from the current 1.3 billion cubic meters. up to 2.1 billion cubic meters.
“As a result of this investment gas storage capacity in Poland will increase by as much as a quarter to 4.1 billion cubic meters. Thanks to this, the security of gas supplies to Polish customers will significantly increase,” Orlen emphasized. He announced that construction works under the investment are planned to be completed at the turn of 2025 and 2026.
Orlen's strategy
Orlen Group is a multi-energy concern that owns, among others, refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, as well as a network of gas stations, including in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. At the same time, it is developing the hydrocarbon, oil and gas extraction segment, the petrochemical segment and the renewable energy sources segment, and plans to develop safe nuclear energy. By 2030, it intends to launch at least one small SMR nuclear reactor.
Updated in 2023 Orlen Group's strategy until 2030, taking into account its priority goals after the merger with the Energa Group, Lotos Group and PGNiG. According to this document, the company plans to invest over PLN 320 billion by the end of the decade.
At the beginning of November 2022, Orlen (then called PKN Orlen – PAP) announced that the merger with PGNiG had been entered into the register of entrepreneurs. National Court Register by the District Court for Łódź-Śródmieście in Łódź. Earlier, the shareholders of both companies agreed to the merger, and at the end of July 2022, the companies signed a merger plan assuming the transfer of PGNiG assets to Orlen in exchange for its shares granted to PGNiG shareholders.
Author: Michał Budkiewicz
