The Management Board of Grupa LOTOS S.A. confirms chartering “Atlantas” carrying 2m barrels of Iranian crude oil. The vessel will call at Naftoport in mid-August.

The lifting of international sanctions imposed on Iran has opened way to cooperation between Grupa LOTOS S.A. and NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company), a government-owned corporation responsible for selling of Iranian oil on global markets. After the parties successfully negotiated commercial terms of the contract, Iranian crude will again, after a number of years, be processed at the LOTOS refinery in Gdańsk.

‘The contract provides for a single test supply of 2m barrels of Iranian Light,” explains Robert Pietryszyn, President of Grupa LOTOS S.A. “Only a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) supertanker is able to transport such quantity of feedstock in a single supply. VLCC tankers are among the largest crude carriers in the world, and Atlantas will be the largest tanker to have ever called at Naftoport.’

LOTOS is interested in any reasonable cooperation in sourcing oil for the Gdańsk refinery, which also includes crude supplies from Arab countries.

“The transaction confirms that state-owned enterprises are consistently taking steps designed to strengthen Poland’s energy security. Diversified oil supplies to Poland, based on sound economics, support not only the state’s strategic interests, but also the national economy,” comments Dawid Jackiewicz, Minister of State Treasury of the Republic of Poland.

It is a firm intention of Grupa LOTOS and National Iranian Oil Company to continue the cooperation in crude oil supplies to the Gdańsk refinery.

Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Minister of Energy, says that LOTOS’ purchase of Iranian crude is another step towards diversification of supply sources. “I am glad to see that we are making good use of the favourable geopolitical environment to establish new business relations. It is all done to ensure the best possible energy security for Poland, adds Mr Tchórzewski.

Given the depths of the Danish Straits, which limits tanker’s maximum permitted draught to 15 metres, before entering the Baltic, Atlantas will reload around 700 thousand barrels on another tanker in a procedure known as an STS (Ship-to-Ship) transfer. The both tankers will then arrive in the Gdańsk Naftoport. By the time of arrival, Atlantas will have covered over 12 thousand nautical miles (22,261 kilometres), going around Africa along the way, as the draught of vessels of that class, when loaded, is too large to use the Suez Canal. Atlantas is expected to call at Naftoport in mid-August.

Communications Office, Grupa LOTOS S.A., ul. Elbląska 135, 80-718 Gdańsk, Poland, tel. (+48) 58 308 87 31, (+48) 58 308 83 88, e-mail: media@grupalotos.pl