Europe is a continent with a huge energy dependency. The “soils” and “sea” of Western Europe (Russia must be excluded) contain virtually no oil or gas. This situation forces the countries of the European Union (EU) to import almost all of the crude oil and gas they consume. Therefore, Every discovery of crude oil on EU soil is celebrated as a “party” even if it is a few million barrels. This is the case of Orlen, a Polish energy giant that discovered an oil field west of Poland, which contains five times more crude oil than the rest of the surrounding fieldsAccording to a company spokesman, this is the largest crude oil discovery in Poland in more than 20 years.
The site is “the largest discovered in recent decades” and could produce 16,500 tonnes per year, says Orlen director Ireneusz F?fara. This observation is not comparable to those made in the Middle East, Africa or Guyana, but it is relevant if placed in the context of the European Union, where almost no country produces a significant amount of oil. Orlen estimates that by 2023, the total annual oil production of its companies is about 823,000 tonnes of crude oil per year. Therefore, the start of the new production would add about 2% to the company’s total oil production.
Not only is this the discovery of this deposit, but the engineers of the Polish company believe that there are formations containing significant quantities of crude oil, which could therefore be the beginning of something much bigger: “The drilling indicates that in the surrounding geological structures there are large additional quantities of crude oil,” says Wies?aw Prugar, member of the board of directors of Orlen responsible for upstream.
“It is very likely that we will make more important discoveries”he adds, and Orlen suggests that another 500,000 tonnes of oil could be found nearby. The news comes at a time when domestic oil production in Poland, one of Europe’s largest hydrocarbon producers in the 19th century, is drying up and Orlen’s subsidiaries have been buying drilling rights in Norwegian waters of the North Sea since 2018.
Poland depends on foreign oil
Poland consumes 580,000 barrels of oil every day, of which it imports about 540,000 barrels of oil per day, according to recent data, although this figure can vary from year to year due to economic and geopolitical factors. In other words, the country must import more than 90% of all the crude oil it consumes, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The country has tried to diversify its energy supply sources, reducing its dependence on Russian oil, especially after the war in Ukraine.
The country has already imported 45% of the oil it will consume in 2023 from Saudi Arabia.Poland, with a population of about 38 million, has been part of the European Union since 2004. Its entry into the EU marked an economic turning point, with significant flows of foreign investment and European funds aimed at modernizing its infrastructure and boosting its development.
The importance of Poland for the EU
In addition, it is worth highlighting its strategic geographical location in Central Europe, which makes it an important transit and connection point between Western and Eastern Europe. Its close trade relations with Russia in terms of energy imports in recent decades have been reduced after the start of the war in Ukraine. This oil discovery represents hope for this country that must import almost all of its energy.
Announcing the new discovery, F?fara said the project would benefit the Lubuskie region in western Poland, where the discovery was made and where most of Poland’s domestic production now comes from. “Local governments, which receive up to 90% of operating fees for oil and gas extraction, could receive an additional PLN 1 million. [alrededor de 250.000 euros] flowing into their budgets every year if all goes well,” Orlen’s CEO said.
According to Exalo Drilling, part of the Orlen Group, exploratory drilling near the town of Rzeczyca, near the western town of Zielona Górastarted in June and lasted 63 days. The drilling well reached a depth of 2,750 meters.
This week, dominated by the fall in oil prices on global markets despite production cuts in Saudi Arabia and by the drop in demand in China, Orlen’s share price fell by more than 5.8%.
